Ivo Richaers has been appointed chief executive of Vrijbuiter, a Dutch group of four megastores for camping, outdoor and other leisure products, from the start of July. He takes over from Steven de Raat, a former executive in sports and footwear retailing, who led Vrijbuiter for four years in a period of far-reaching adjustments, to align the retailer's business with the changes in the European outdoor market. Richaers previously spent about 15 years building up Studiekring, a Dutch market leader in the area of tutoring and after-school support, which has grown into an organization with more than 100 branches. He then took a three-month trip, hiking the first 2,000 kilometers of the Pacific Crest Trail in the U.S., and returned to work as a consultant and interim manager. He had several assignments at Vrijbuiter, in strategic and operational management, as well as advisory functions with start-ups and other fast-growing companies. De Raat remains available until the end of the year to support the transition at Vrijbuiter. He previously worked at the Unlimited Sports Group and Scapino, two Dutch retailers in the sports and footwear industry, among others.

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