22 April, 2026
We celebrate half a century of ARA NV
50 years ago, on June 7, 1971, Ara was founded by Stan Van Houtven and Lena De Swert. ARA NV was then still Zeefdrukkerij Van Houtven.
- The location: a studio in the backyard.
- The machinery: 1 homemade, manually operated printing table.
It was the heyday of self-stickers; every self-respecting small or large business had a sticker as a promotional gift, and cars were full of them. Stan and Lena were inventive entrepreneurs and the small business grew rapidly.
Starting in the late 1970s, plastisol transfers were printed en masse; in the early 1980s, sublimation sheets became the core business for several decades and ARA NV continued to grow. The garden location was exchanged for an old joinery, and then for a new building in 1993.
Founder Stan Van Houtven died in 1997.
After 50 years, we look back on a long history in which the graphic world also underwent a gigantic metamorphosis: from red cutting film and adhesive letters to graphic computers, from orders by mail, over the fax to online.
We en passant survived many a global crisis, and- as befits passionate entrepreneurs- often had to reinvent ourselves again
However, the link with and to textile printing via transfer has always remained the common thread and is deep in our DNA, even when we started focusing on water-based textile transfers around 2005.
ARA NV is still a family business that strives to build lasting relationships with customers and staff.
We also hold health and the environment in high regard: for example, Ara is a pioneer in printing with water-based inks (since 1987); we work with up-to-date, energy-efficient installations and have been getting 20% of our energy from rooftop solar panels for 10 years.
We sincerely thank all our customers for their, often long-standing, fine cooperation and hope to add many more years to it!
