25% or less. His insight: "you could cut your profit mark-up dramatically. Even with much a lower margin, the far greater volume of sales would still boost the bottom line profit. This major innovation has had a great impact on people's thinking within all C&A companies even to this very day." By 1910 there were ten stores in the Netherlands, also in Groningen and Rotterdam. In 1911, the company opened the first German store in Berlin, managed by Clemens (1862-1938). In 1922, the company started a store in Oxford Street. During WWII the company profited from (expropriated) Jewish real estate and Ostarbeiter; after the war from the economic boom. The first store in the USA was opened in 1948. In 1967 C&A cooperated with Twiggy as designer; shops were opened in Belgium. In the 1970s the expansion of C&A went on: also Switzerland, France, Spain and Japan were added as markets. In 1981, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld worked for C&A. In the 1990s the company opened shops in Portugal and Mexico. According to NRC Handelsblad, the family also financed the establishment of the CDA and the Pope's arrival in the Netherlands in 1985. The Brenninkmeijers have meanwhile donated more than a billion euros to the Catholic church. Since 1995, the Brenninkmeijers' philanthropic activities have been managed more centrally via Porticus and Benevolentia. Until the mid-nineties only male descendants in a direct line of Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer could become shareholders. 21st century C&A is an apparel company with headquarters in Vilvoorde and Düsseldorf. In 2017 it operated approximately 1,575 stores in 18 European countries. These companies are linked through the COFRA group, based in Zug, a tax haven in Switzerland. The company closed its stores in the United Kingdom and Denmark in 2000. In the 21st century many new stores have been opened in Eastern Europe countries. The company has also opened stores in China (2007). C&A-Online launched in Germany in 2008. Across their businesses, the Brenninkmeyers employ more than 35,000 people worldwide. For a period of time Eastern Mountain Sports, Steinbach, Ohrbach's, Maurices, Miller's Outpost and others were owned through the American Retail Group. In the 1980s and 1990s, they owned the Comark group in Canada, which included Bretton's department stores, Clark Shoes and Collacut luggage stores. The Canadian operations were sold in 2005 to KarpReilly, LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2009, the Brenninkmeijer family founded the