FreeTime

What FreeTime does

FreeTime is a brick-and-mortar home furnishings and lifestyle retailer operating under the legal entity UNITIME NV in Belgium. The company runs two physical stores — a 5,000m² flagship in Aarschot (Unikamp location) and a secondary showroom in Geel — offering 12+ merchandise departments including decoratie, geuren, handtassen & accessoires, hobby, huishoud & elektro, kamperen, koffers & tassen, koken & tafelen, meubelen & verlichting, school- & kantoorwaren, speelgoed, and textiel. The Aarschot store is the full-assortment flagship; the Geel showroom offers a limited selection and directs customers to Aarschot for the broader range. Exclusive departments at Aarschot include hobby, kamperen, school- & kantoorwaren, and speelgoed.

The company operates a horizontal, direct-to-consumer retail model with broad reach into Belgian households: families, gift shoppers, home furnishers, and outdoor enthusiasts. Revenue is generated primarily through physical merchandise sales, supplemented by an online gift card program (€5–€100, 12-month validity) and a digital garden furniture catalog under the Gardentime sub-brand. Marketing is conducted through seasonal promotional flyers, an email newsletter, Facebook, and Instagram. The technology stack is intentionally low — Webflow-based website, no mobile app, no public API, and no proprietary platform — consistent with a traditional regional retailer.

FreeTime differentiates on convenience (Sunday and holiday trading, 14-day returns, 5,000m² one-stop shop), local community positioning (preference for local employees), and category exclusivity (e.g., premium Samsonite dealer status). The Aarschot flagship is currently undergoing phased renovation, indicating ongoing capital investment in the physical estate. The company is privately held, founded in 2021, with no disclosed funding, ownership structure, or institutional investors.

Name

FreeTime

Legal name

UNITIME NV

Website

https://free-time.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FreeTime is a Belgian brick-and-mortar home furnishings and lifestyle retailer operating two stores in Aarschot and Geel, selling 12+ departments of decor, furniture, toys, gifts, and household goods to general Belgian consumers through direct-to-consumer retail supplemented by online gift cards and a digital garden furniture catalog.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Furnishings Retail

NAICS

Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliance Retailers (449), Home Furnishings Retailers (44912), Furniture Retailers (449110), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120), Electronics and Appliance Retailers (449210)

SIC

Retail-Home Furniture, Furnishings & Equipment Stores (5700), Retail-Misc General Merchandise Stores (5399), Retail-Furniture Stores (5712), Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Off-Price Home & Housewares Department Stores (CRAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Off-Price Home Textiles (Bedding, Bath, Linens) Retail (CRAEACAC), Off-Price Small Appliances & Home Electronics Retail (CRAEACAH), Off-Price Home Organization & Storage Retail (CRAEACAE)

Keywords

• Home furnishings retail
• Lifestyle department store
• Home decoration store
• Physical retail gift shop
• Household goods retailer

Headquarters

HQ city

Aarschot

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Retail merchandise sales: Revenue generated from selling physical products across 12+ department categories including decoratie, geuren, handtassen, hobby, huishoud & electro, kamperen, koffers & tassen, koken & tafelen, meubelen & verlichting, school- & kantoorwaren, speelgoed, and textiel.
2. Gift card sales: Sale of gift cards (online €5-€100, in-store €5, €15, €25, €50) that generate revenue when redeemed for merchandise.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FreeTime operates a multi-department brick-and-mortar retail concept selling contemporary home furnishings, decoration, lifestyle products, toys, hobby supplies, camping gear, luggage, kitchenware, and textiles across two Belgian store locations. The main 5,000m² Aarschot flagship offers 12+ department categories under one roof with Sunday and holiday opening hours, while the Geel showroom focuses on furniture and outdoor furniture (Gardentime). Revenue is supplemented by an online gift voucher program valid at both locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gardentime: Online garden catalog featuring garden furniture including chairs, tables, lounges, and sets. Available at Freetime Geel showroom and full assortment at Aarschot location.

Products and services

• Freetime Retail Store (Aarschot flagship and Geel showroom) Physical retail chain operating two stores in Belgium (Aarschot flagship at Diestsesteenweg 16 / Unikamp, and Geel at Antwerpseweg 60), spanning approximately 5,000m² of retail space and offering 12+ department categories: Decoratie, Geuren, Handtassen & Accessoires, Hobby, Huishoud & Elektro, Kamperen, Koffers & Tassen, Koken & Tafelen, Meubelen & Verlichting, School- & Kantoorwaren, Speelgoed, and Textiel. Differentiators include Sunday and holiday opening, a 14-day return guarantee, and a €5 newsletter signup incentive.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SamsonitecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFreetime is a premium dealer of Samsonite luggage and bags. This partnership positions Freetime as a recognized distributor of premium travel products in the region.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HEMA: HEMA operates a comparable multi-category variety and home goods retail concept in Belgium, covering household, kitchen, textiles, and personal accessories at value prices. The peer overlap with FreeTime is strongest in housewares, kitchen, textiles, and gift-led assortment.
• Casa: Casa is a Belgian-founded home decoration and lifestyle chain with stores across Belgium. It is the closest direct competitor to FreeTime's decoratie, geuven, and meubelen & verlichting categories with similar mid-market value positioning.
• Veritas: Veritas is a Belgian hobby, craft, and creative supplies retailer. It overlaps directly with FreeTime's Hobby department (decopatch, painting, mosaic, diamond painting) and competes for the same creative-leisure customer segment in Belgium.
• Leen Bakker: Leen Bakker is a Dutch/Belgian home furnishings and furniture value retailer covering furniture, decoration, bedding, and household goods. It overlaps directly with FreeTime's furniture, textiel, and household assortment at similar value-oriented price points.

Broad incumbents

• Brico: Brico is a large Belgian DIY and home improvement chain. While more DIY-focused, it overlaps with FreeTime on household, storage, and small appliance categories and shares a similar value-positioned Belgian customer base.
• Maisons du Monde: Maisons du Monde is a French home furnishings and decoration retailer with a Belgian store footprint. It overlaps with FreeTime on decoratie, meubelen & verlichting, and textiel but skews to a more design-led, higher-price assortment.
• JYSK: JYSK is a pan-European off-price home furnishings and 'everything for the home' retailer with strong Belgian presence. It competes with FreeTime across bedding, furniture, and household goods, but FreeTime's broader 12-department lifestyle assortment and Sunday trading differentiate the formats.
• Action: Action is a rapidly expanding extreme-value variety retailer with extensive Belgian footprint across household, decoration, toys, hobby, and kitchen. It pressures FreeTime on price across the same multi-category breadth, though with a smaller-box, faster-turnover model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/freetimeshop
• Instagraminstagram.com/freetimeshop.be
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freetime-nv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FreeTime