In 1904, while working as a member of the Royal Constabulary in Winterswijk, Wouter van Ast, Willem's grandfather, broke his leg during a horse riding accident and was dismissed from the constabulary. Unable to live on his remaining income, he decided to open a shop that sold books and records. A few years later he had to take on additional staff and ten years after opening his shop he built his own frame factory. As a picture framer he also started buying and selling glass and in 1927 the company moved to new premises in Winterswijk, where the Arco furniture-manufacturing facility stands to this day.
In those days Wouter's oldest son, Arend Cornelis van Ast, cycled around the country selling the products produced by the Van Ast Frame Makers and Glass Traders. His three brothers also worked for the family company. The firm grew rapidly and was one of the first companies to install a telephone. This might sound trivial these days, but in the 1930s it put the company at the forefront of technological innovation.
