Historie

February 3rd: ALTERNATE GmbH is founded in Gießen. As subsiduary to WAVE Computersysteme GmbH it enters the consumer electronics market. The name of the company finds its origin in the “ALTERNATE” key that used to be on Atari keyboards.

ALTERNATE primarily starts selling Commodore and Atari computers and peripherals. It also makes the first steps toward the growing pc market. Especially the customised “ALTERNATE speed files” (which are SCSI-cases with built in harddisk) are very popular.

Move to Linden: ALTERNATE expands and moves to a new building in Linden, close to Gießen.

The first webshop is launched: Webshop www.alternate.de.

ALTERNATE Computerversand Nederland C.V. is established in Ridderkerk (the Netherlands).

Launch of the Dutch webshop: www.alternate.nl.

Germany opens a new logistic centre. The newly built logistic centre offers 3500m2 of warehouse and a full automatic small-parts warehouse.

Launch of another two international webshops: www.alternate.at for Austrian customers and www.alternate.es for Spanish customers.

Reopening of the showrooms in Linden. The shops have been expanded to an impressive 400m2 and offer an extensive range of articles. Also the possibility is added to pick up orders that have been placed online and by telephone.

The German Ministry of Economics and Technology awards ALTERNATE the German Internetprize, as they are impressed by the successful webshop and ultramodern ‘e-logistics’ system. Only 3 out of the 125 nominated companies are awarded this prize.

Launch of the Belgian webshop: www.alternate.be. The order processing is handled by Alternate Nederland (in the Netherlands).

Start of the German E-Sport project: “Team ALTERNATE”. ALTERNATE is the first German corporation to enlist an own E-Sport team.

Installation of the solar panels on the buildings in Linden.

Expansion of the Home Entertainment assortment. ALTERNATE creates a new, separate TV & Audio shop in Linden.

The German logistics centre is expanded and adds another 2300m₂ to its existing warehouse.

ALTERNATE Nederland expands and moves to a new, larger building in Ridderkerk.

Foundation of ALTERNATE Sportparks in Linden. ALTERNATE gains a nearby leisure centre.

ALTERNATE België Comm. V. is established in Aartselaar, Belgium (near Antwerp).

The foundation “ALTERNAID” – foundation for people in need is created by German employees following the tsunami disaster in Asia in 2004/2005.

Germany opens yet another logistic centre – this time with 8000m2 of warehouse space and 1800m₂ office space, making this the largest building so far. Also the shop is expanded.

ALTERNATE starts its Facebook page.

Redesign of our webshop www.alternate.de

The assortment is extended even further: also household goods are available. In Germany a space is created specifically to present white goods.

Launch of our webshop www.alternate.pl for our Polish customer.
Launch of our webshop www.alternate.it for our Italian customers.
Launch of our webshop www.alternate.fr for our French customers.

Expansion of our Home & Garden online product portfolio.
Expansion of our household appliances product portfolio. ALTERNATE opens a home & garden shop in Linden/Hesse, Germany.