In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, textiles was a budding cottage industry in the western Netherlands. During the eighteenth century, the region became so prosperous that the people who worked from home were able to find better paid employment. As a result, the textile industry was faced with a labour shortage and relocated to Brabant and Limburg. Tilburg and the surrounding area was one of the places where the textile industry became established.

In 1846, Adriaan Van Puijenbroek joined the group of textile entrepreneurs operating in the Tilburg area and started to work with a small warehouse and a network of people who worked from home.