Our History

Gebr. Wetzlar C.V. (Wetzlar Bros.), the predecessor of Joba Leisure B.V., was established in 1923 by the father and uncle of Mr. Kurt Wetzlar, and was at that time located at the Prinsengracht 205, in the centre of Amsterdam. As early as 1923, Gebr. Wetzlar C.V. started to produce billiard articles by turning billiard balls from elephant ivory tusks.

In July 1938, after a traineeship of one year, Mr. Lex Bary - the father of Joba Leisure B.V.’s present managing director, Mr. Jerry Bary, - was sent to East Africa to purchase ivory for Gebr. Wetzlar C.V., which was to be used partly for the production of billiard balls, and other billiard items like cue tip ferrules, rings and inlays for cues, and diamonds for billiard tables.

On July 7, 1967, the company Wetzlar Ivory N.V. was established, which traded in ivory and billiard articles, among other indoor sporting goods, games and equipment. In fact, this company was the basis for the present-day Joba Leisure B.V.

Under the leadership of Mr. Kurt Wetzlar, the company was confronted with an ever-increasing demand for billiard articles, and from 1969 onwards, not only balls, but cues, cloths, chalks and other billiard items were traded. Since Wetzlar Ivory was specialised in billiard and ivory articles already, tremendous efforts were immediately made to meet this growing demand, and an active distribution network was set up, extending over a number of West-European countries. The company had 4-5 employees at that time, and already sold thousands of cues every year, each, being top-quality products.

From 1970, the year in which the present Managing Director of Joba Leisure B.V., Mr. Jerry Bary, joined the company, the demand for billiard items had grown to such an extent that a separate department was established to exclusively deal with the purchase and sale of billiard articles. The assortment of billiard articles had by then grown to over three thousand different items, of which the company-owned quality brands of Adam and Buffalo had been established throughout Europe as the best known top quality brands.

The location from where Wetzlar Ivory operated, was still in the same buildings where the firm had been established in 1923, right in the heart of Amsterdam at the Prinsengracht. In this attractive and typical environment, characterised by the many canals, beautiful mansions, the large number of magnificent churches and the pleasant outdoor cafés, a setting was created in which doing business with Wetzlar Ivory, was felt as an enjoyable activity. The primary European billiard table producers and wholesalers, who, in the course of many years have paid visits to Wetzlar Ivory / Billiards, are likely to remember those occasions, as to this day.

The increasingly negative attitude towards the ivory trade led to a name change on the 29th. December, 1978. From that date, Wetzlar Ivory N.V. was known as Wetzlar Billiards B.V., and started from that date to bring the trade in ivory articles to a complete standstill.

Already at the foundation of Wetzlar Ivory / Billiards, Mr. Tom Jongste was actively present. Together with the present Director, Mr. Jerry Bary, a lot of effort was put into the development of quality products and a continuity of selling quality billiard articles, within the West-European billiards market. Five years later, on the 28th. December 1983, a management buyout took place, by Mr. Jongste and Mr. Bary. The expertise and experience acquired over the years, was now applied to establish an entirely autonomous company. This new company still named Wetzlar Billiards, was baptised a year later, on November 14, 1984, as Joba Leisure B.V. (Joba - the first two letters of the new directors / owners, Jo from Jongste and Ba from Bary.)

On February 11, 1987, Tom Jongste, friend and business partner of the present Director Jerry Bary and of the founder Kurt Wetzlar, died suddenly. It was a difficult year in the history of our company, since Mr. Lex Bary had just died a month earlier, on January 4, 1987.

But in those troubled times, Joba Leisure B.V., then employing a staff of 9 people, held its own, in all aspects. Proof of that, is the fact that the “then” top selling articles like Buffalo and Adam, of Wetzlar Ivory / Billiards and later of Joba Leisure B.V., are still today the showpieces and top selling brands within our assortment. This once again shows, that striving for quality and continuity has always been our goal and has been (and still is) highly rewarded.

The growth of Joba Leisure B.V. (which had expanded to a workforce of 22 by then) continued, and soon it became clear, that a new headquarters had to be found. Maintaining four different warehouses in and around Amsterdam, had a clear burden on the supply and logistics of Joba products. To effectively meet the growing demand, the present day offices and warehouses at the Jan Rebelstraat 10-12 were purchased in June 1991. After a thorough renovation, business was resumed from here at the end of 1991. On February 29, 1992, the festive opening ceremonies took place, attended by almost everybody in the billiard business.

Our new business property in Amsterdam-Osdorp has a total surface area of 3000 m˛ (32,300 sq ft) and houses about 4000 different types of billiards and darts articles. At this moment Joba Leisure B.V. employs a staff of 25, divided among; management, purchasing department, sales, administration and the warehouse. In 1991 some 200,000 cues were sold, a number that had grown to over 300,000 in 1994, and over 500,000 in 1997. The relocation has turned out to be an excellent move and a good investment.