History

Scala was founded in 1992 and over time we have grown to be a cross-medial and innovative media company, the largest in the field of creativity. Most of the brands are owned by Scala, each in their own right are leading in their niche. Scala has an interesting history containing many challenges, choices and innovations. Read more below.

History

2024: Slimmer, niet harder

Met als woord van het jaar 'InvestExcellence' investeert Scala in focus en automatisering. Ook AI wordt meer geïntegreerd.

2023: Overnames en Bizzmedia

Met de toegekende SLIM subsidie zijn we dit jaar aan de slag gegaan met procesoptimalisatie en efficiënter werken. Daarnaast staat het jaar in het teken van overnames. In februari nemen we de titels Plot@Home en Stitch@Home over en in juli de vaktijdschriften Textilia en Schoenvisie in het daartoe opgerichte Scala Bizzmedia. De cirkel is rond, Scala is weer terug in de vakbladen!

2022: Celebrate creativity

Hoera, Scala bestaat dit jaar 30 jaar! Het eerste feestmoment is al in januari: het all-you-can-haakplatform Haakflix gaat live. Er zijn scherpe en mooie doelstellingen opgezet voor 2022. En elk gehaald doel viert Scala extra goed dit jaar!

2021: Scala continues to grow

Ondanks dat we dit jaar nog steeds veel thuis gewerkt hebben, groeit Scala door. We ontwikkelen nieuwe specials als Breimagazine en Eten Magazine. In samenwerking met Durable en Dendennis produceert Aan de Haak een ‘Emma Beer Haakpakket’ om geld op te halen voor het Emma Kinderziekenhuis. En… Scala goes UK! Dit door Aan de Haak te vertalen naar Fun Crochet Magazine.

2020: Iedereen Creatief en Loving Paper

Het jaar 2020 had een bizarre wending, de Corona crisis. Iedereen zit thuis, moet de tijd binnen doorkomen. Daarom heeft Scala het gratis magazine ‘Iedereen Creatief’ ontwikkeld voor alle creatieve thuiszitters. Creative Letters en Cards & Scrap gaat verder onder de titel Loving Paper! In opdracht van de Jumbo geven we Smulweb magazine uit.

2019 International

The next step for Scala. In addition to a strong focus on the core tasks via operational excellence, Scala is expanding internationally by granting more licences abroad.

2018 Move

Scala proceeds with its creative projects and developments on a new location: Maanlander 14H in Amersfoort, the first Aan de Haak CAL (crochet-along) goes live on YouTube and the team launches the new special of HobbyHandig: Creëer. Additional to Germany Creative Lettters is licensed in the UK as well.

2017 Jubilee

The special of Cards & Scrap about hand lettering Creative Letters is a winner and grows into being a magazine in its own right with licenses in Germany. Scala celebrates its 25th birthday! The sales of Poppenhuizen & Miniaturen provides Scala with the chance to focus even more on its creative brand cluster so that responding to trends becomes easier.

2016 Launche and restyling

Scala launches Meer dan Kleur (coloring for adults) and MjamTaart is supplemented by the event MjamTaart Cake & Bake Experience. The HobbyHandig website is renewed and the website named Aan de Haak goes live. Mijn Hobbykaart XL merges with Creatief met Kaarten. The webshop changes to a platform: Hobbyou.nl.

2015 Focus

The take over of Quilt & Zo in combination with the growth of the hobby cluster. Scala sells its consumer electronics brands. The self-developed brand Aan de Haak (crochet) becomes a full-blown brand with a licence in Germany. The same applies to the children’s magazine Knutselfun. Scala receives ESF-subsidy because of its social innovation.

2014 More expansion

Digital Movie gets restyled with a renewed website. Scala acquires MjamTaart (cake baking and decorating). Scala responds to the trend of making loom bands by creating a children's magazine with a print run of nearly 176.000 copies in the Netherlands, 80.000 copies are issued in German.

2013 Expansion

From this point onwards, Creatief met Kaarten (cardmaking) and HobbyHandig are also published in French. Scala integrates a successful blog with 1000 active participants with Cards & Scrap. Scala issues the bimonthly magazine Quilt & Zo commissioned by Partner Medien from Germany.

2012 Year of takeovers

Scala receives an ESF-grant for social innovation. Together with its target audience, Scala initiates an extensive restyling process for HobbyHandig and takes over various magazines. This creates a cluster of creative hobby brands and strengthens Scala’s position in the hobby market.

2011 Succession and Smartest company

Ashja Bosboom-Fetvaciyan is appointed managing director of Scala. Digital Movie launches an opinion panel and test panel consisting of readers. Puppenhäuser & Miniaturen is published 100% online in German. Scala adopts the magazine HobbyHandig (crafting) and is asked to participate in the Smartest Companies of the Netherlands.

2010 Innovation and sustainability

Scala focuses stronger on social media. As one of the first, Scala aims for sustainability via a virtual server. This makes Scala an innovative test case for the local authorities of Amsterdam. Railhobby is restyled in collaboration with its readers, who have been included in the decision process of the renewed layout.

2009 Top 100 innovation

Scala is nominated for the Top 100 most innovative companies in the Netherlands! The publishing house produces the cross medial sites with portals and online editions from then on in house. Moreover, Scala takes over the magazine Poppenhuizen & Miniaturen (dollhouses).

2007-2008 Expanding and integrate

Scala expands its online strategy further in marketing and integrates the magazine Luister in the specially established Luister BV. Scala automates the internal back office processes into an all-in-one system, including online.

2005-2006 First in crossmedia

In 2005, Scala is the first publishing house that, in addition to the paper magazines, launches its magazines 100% online containing added value for its readers and advertisers. This is a huge success and positions the company as online innovator and knowledge center. Scala advises third parties on this topic and is speaker on events.

2000-2004 Huge Expansions

In 2000, Scala expands considerably because of the acquisition of Railhobby (model railroad) and Luister (classical music). In 2004, Scala merges Video Uit & Thuis and DVDplus into Digital Movie and acquires and merges the magazine Miniatuurbanen into Railhobby.

1992-1999 Laying the foundations

Scala grows fast and sets up a consumer electronics cluster: Video Uit & Thuis doubles, Scala takes over professional magazine Media Detail and launches DVDplus. Scala purchases and sells off various magazines and launches Tommy (aiming at animal lovers). Scala publishes archeology magazine Scarabee in commission.

1992 Founding year

Publishing house Scala BV starts in October 1992. Together with his wife Anna, Mik Fetvaciyan establishes the company after many years of running a publishing cluster at one of the bigger Publishing houses in the Netherlands. Scala starts with a team of five dedicated people and two brands; Video Uit & Thuis and Mens & Melodie.

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