History from the beginnings until the 1950s

In 1926, my grandfather, Pierre LIBAU, a young carpenter and cabinetmaker, opened his workshop and store on Rue des Champs in Etterbeek. He was assisted by his wife Jeanne, and soon by a few carpenters as the woodworking business quickly found its rhythm. The main activity was the manufacturing of all types of furniture, including dining room sets, kitchen furniture, and, of course, bedroom furniture. The workshop was responsible for making upholstered bed bases, while a nearby upholsterer crafted wool mattresses. Always in search of novelty, Pierre Libau quickly started selling the famous EPEDA spring mattresses manufactured by the Brussels-based Verhaegen Brothers company. These mattresses were a revolution in the field of sleep at that time. In the early 1930s, aided by his sister Jeanne and brother-in-law Marcel Nicaise, a new store was opened on Chaussée de Wavre in “La Chasse” under the name Meubles NOVA. This store was specifically dedicated to selling furniture purchased from small furniture factories. Unfortunately, the turmoil of 1940 was already at our doorstep. Marcel Nicaise was mobilized, and my grandfather found himself on the roads of France during the exodus. Upon their return, the store in “La Chasse” had to be closed, while the woodworking business survived the war by taking on small jobs it could undertake.

From the installation on Rue de l’Etang to the present day.

At the end of the war, there was a surge in demand for furniture, and the workshop was not prepared for this influx of orders. Manufacturing was quickly halted, and only the sales activity continued. In the early 1950s, the store became definitively too small, and a house was acquired and transformed into Rue de l’Etang 105 (the house we still currently occupy), in what was then the most commercial neighborhood of Etterbeek. In the early 1960s, my mother, who had joined her father in the store, decided to open a boutique that would exclusively focus on the sale of bedding and other accessories. A new house was acquired at Chaussée de Wavre 471, and the brand LITERIE LIBAU was born during this time. This is where curious consumers could discover the first generation of LATTOFLEX bed bases and mattresses, a new revolution in the bedding industry. During the “Golden Sixties” period, we participated in the first “ideal home” exhibition and were present every year at the “Household Arts Fair.” This presence strengthened the store’s reputation, and we delivered throughout the country. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the competition from the first large furniture retailers was increasingly felt. After my grandfather’s passing, my father, Franz Neefs, and my mother decided to take over the store while abandoning furniture sales to focus exclusively on bedding sales. Despite the progressive and methodical demolition of the JOURDAN neighborhood, the brand persevered thanks to the quality of service and advice, as well as the constant search for innovative products, such as the introduction of the first duvets on the Belgian market and the first electrically adjustable bed bases in the early 1970s. In 1993, a new generation took the reins of the business. The store underwent new transformations to better showcase the latest innovations in the bedding industry. Always in search of the most innovative products, our range expanded to include new viscoelastic foams, not to mention the new range of fiber slatted bed bases, Lattoflex® X5.