At the same time, BigBen itself moved into the retail market, adding a chain of stores specializing in video games and consoles under the names Game's and Espace 3 and building a network of 14 stores by the end of the decade.īigBen's involvement with the video game sector rapidly overtook the company's original wholesaling operations. BigBen counted among its customers such major retailing groups as Auchan, Carrefour, and Casino, as well as specialist retailers including Toys "R" Us and Fnac. With this catalog of heavy hitters, BigBen quickly became one of the leading distributors in the French video game market. The company's background in distribution helped it win non-exclusive distribution deals with a number of fast-rising companies in the video game sector, including Acclaim, Nintendo, Sony, and Electronic Arts. Falc's recognition of the potential for the video gaming market enabled the company to become an early player in what was to become one of the world's largest-selling leisure sectors. The boom in the consumer electronics market at the beginning of the 1990s, especially the development of the video gaming console market, led BigBen to further expand its operations to include a wider array of products. Lille's position near the Belgian border also gave BigBen an entry into the Benelux market.
By the early 1990s, Falc had put into place a thriving regional business. For the most part, however, the company remained close to its original focus on timepieces. Through the 1980s, BigBen expanded its range of offerings, adding a variety of electronics goods, as well as gifts and promotional items. Early on, Falc became a distributor for a number of watch brands, including Patrick Arnaud and Yves Bertelin Zeon, serving primarily the wholesaler circuit.
Falc named his company BigBen, in reference to the famous clock tower in London. In 1981, at the age of 20, Alain Falc founded a business selling watches at wholesale from his town of Lesquin, near Lille in the north of France. The company's sales, at EUR 135.85 million in March 2005, represented a drop of some 26 percent from the previous year. Difficult trading conditions have forced the company to shut down its U.K. Falc remains the Euronext Paris-listed company's chairman and largest shareholder, with a 49 percent stake. BigBen's smallest operation, the wholesaling business, is also its oldest, launched at the company's founding by Alain Falc in 1981.
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In addition, the company acts as an exclusive distributor for a number of smaller software publishers, including deals with the Netherlands' 3Pi, the 3DO in the United States, and Jester Interactive in the United Kingdom. BigBen's non-exclusive video console and software business includes its acquisition of the entire European stock of the discontinued Sega Dreamcast in 2001 and the non-exclusive distribution of software and video game consoles in France and the Benelux markets. The company carried out research and development for this category at its Hong Kong subsidiary, which was opened in 2000.
The company's youngest and fastest growing activity is the design, marketing, and distribution of peripherals and accessories for the video console market, with products including a line of carrying cases for the Nintendo DS and the Body Pad gaming controller. BigBen operates in four primary areas: video game accessories and peripherals, non-exclusive video console and software distribution, exclusive software distribution, and the company's original operation, wholesale distribution of watches, gifts, promotional items, and electronic goods. is France's leading developer and distributor of video game console peripherals and a leading distributor of video gaming consoles and software in the French, Benelux, and German markets.
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