Roel de Graaf, together with his partner Henk, has been running the tent company Bosjuweel for 25 years. They rent out special tents. You won't find the standard party tent in the assortment, but you will find tepees, Mongolian yurts and stretch tents. “We come to the big boys in the festival world to set up tents, but also like to come to your home for a garden party,” says Roel.
Forest Jewel once started as a nature experience organization, with an idealistic goal. “There was a need to introduce children from the city to nature and what nature does to you. Sleep in teepees, do lots of activities during the day and learn what you can do in nature,” Roel says. “We had a lot of ‘difficult’ kids, who found space in nature. But also the other elementary school children enjoyed these outings a lot. We also got more and more demand from the care sector to also organize weekends away for mentally disabled people. In addition to Bosjuweel BV, we set up a foundation to provide these weekends.”
“The tent business and the foundation were both going extremely well, but both are taking place in the same season,” Roel explains. “It was busy and everything kept growing. So last year we chose to say goodbye to the foundation and focus on the tent company. We are at many festivals, almost all of which are multi-day these days. We then fill the campsites with our tipi tents. But we also just still come to people's homes, for parties in the backyard, for example. Often we set up our stretch tents there.” Bosjuweel travels beyond Dutch festivals and backyard parties. “Nijmegen is our base of operations, but our teepees go all over the world,“ he says. ”We show up in mountains, but also on the hot plains of Seville or on the coast of Croatia."
“We think it's important to do business responsibly. We live in a throwaway society and at festivals you can still see this very well. They just leave the tent and sleeping bag these days. We chose tipis because they are tents with a story and a huge history. They also provide a certain atmosphere, the plastic party tents just aren't our style. In addition, tepees are also a lot more durable, they last a long time. We have our own workshop where we make our own tents, but also repair them. Are they beyond repair? Then they are reused for bags or clothing,” Roel explains.
“In addition to the product itself, we are also concerned with reducing CO2 exhaust and using as few chemicals as possible. I also think it's important that the people working for us are well paid. And we also have room for people with a distance from the labor market. In addition, social clubs also get discounts on our tents, that's how we try to support society.”
“We came into being with the rise of the Internet. No one knew at the time what a teepee was, but now with the Internet everyone knows. Without the Internet, we probably could not have existed. Our webmaster researched hosting companies years ago and came across Superspace. It looked like a young, fresh club with a personal face. This is what I needed, because I was going crazy with all these corporate companies that treat their people as if they were numbers. I can call Superspace if there is something and I just get someone on the line. A good website is increasingly important. Competition has increased tremendously in recent years, so we have to work harder to be at 1-2 position on Google. We just have to be found!”
“I find Superspace pleasantly personal. I call them and there is always someone available to speak to me, without being on hold for hours. It is often also solved very quickly and they always inform me well as well. I find them exceptionally approachable and sympathetic. I can always sleep peacefully about my website because I know that if I have problems there is always someone there to help me. They offer all kinds of other options besides hosting; I'm not taking advantage of those yet. You can always do that.”
“I'm not leaving Superspace for the time being,” Roel says. “I think a club with a personal face is very valuable. So I also hope they don't become super big, but stay small but nice. Or at least keep working and maintain this quality. I really like it. They are easy to reach, very pleasant to deal with and I have the feeling that I am not a number. I am very positive about them!”
The future for Forest Jewel is also in full swing. “We are strengthening the sustainable side and looking into sustainable materials. We would also like to expand our offer so we are orienting for new tents. But we also want to create more of a content program, think about activities like team building. We are also working on a project to cooperate with students in Eindhoven, but I can't tell anything about that yet,” Roel laughs. “It's the middle of the high season now, later in winter I'll have more time to work these things out again. Will come naturally”
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