HOLLAND RETAIL NEWS: May 2019
TopShop, Hudson’s Bay, Cool Cat and Sissy-Boy have all been in the news of late. See what’s happening with those and other retailers here in the Netherlands, and whether your local shopping scene is impacted…
TOP SHOP FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire, which includes the Top Shop brand, has been suffering declining sales over the past few years and last week submitted a CVA proposal to creditors which includes the closure of 23 stores in the UK and all 11 of its stores in the United States. No word yet on the fate of the 3 stores here in the Netherlands… Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
HUDSON’S BAY REQUIRES AN ‘INTERVENTION’
CEO Stephan Fanderl of Hudson’s Bay Netherlands’ parent company Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt spoke in May at the World Retail Congress in Amsterdam, saying an ‘intervention’ is needed in response to the department store chain’s poor performance since it launched less than two years ago. He admitted there was a void in the mid-tier marketplace after the V&D department store chain shut down, but that Hudson’s Bay had missed the mark in filling it. When the stores opened, the retailer was going after the upper market, a segment already well-served by De Bijenkorf stores. By early 2018, Hudson’s Bay management was making adjustments to its merchandise mix, bringing in more Dutch brands with lower price points. But according to company documents, the chain still incurred an €80 million loss for fiscal 2018. Fanderl wouldn’t comment on rumors that Hudson’s Bay 15 Netherlands stores, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and newly opened locations in Amstelveen and Utrecht, would be closed by year end. Instead saying ‘all options are on the table’.
SISSY-BOY BOUGHT BY SACHA OWNER
Dutch brand Sissy-Boy, which fell into bankruptcy last month, was taken over by the Termeer Group (owners of the Sacha and Manfield footwear chains). The company plans to continue Sissy-Boy retail operations in the Netherlands and Belgium and hopes to build the clothing brand further, to complement its established shoe businesses.
COOLCAT GOES BANKRUPT
Dutch children’s clothing company CoolCat was declared bankrupt by a Utrecht court back in March and is currently in the process of shutting down all 80 of its stores here in the Netherlands. They are currently running liquidation sales. The brand’s wholesale business will remain in operation as will its online webshop.
SAKS OFF 5TH STORES LIQUIDATING STOCK
Last month, off-price retailer Saks Off 5th (a division of Galeria Karhof Karstadt following last year’s merger of HBC Europe and Sigma Retail) announced its 2 stores here in the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam) were shutting down. Both stores are currently in liquidation mode and will be shuttered by end of June.
JAIME OLIVER UK RESTAURANTS IN ADMINISTRATION
The Jamie Oliver restaurant chain in the UK has entered into administration and will shut down. According to the owner of the two Jamie Oliver restaurants here in the Netherlands (The Hague and Rotterdam), operations are unaffected by the UK actions and will continue as usual.
HEMA TO SELL ON WEHKAMP
Hema Netherlands has partnered with online retailer Wehkamp to offer Hema products in its webshop. The focus will primarily be Hema’s fashion collection with the first category being ‘baby’ (which includes clothing, baby care, toys and home decor for the nursery), which launched last week. Other categories will be rolled out over the coming months. It is the first time the Hema brand has been offered outside of stores and its own webshop.
ALL TELFORT RETAIL STORES IN NL CLOSED
Back in January, KPN announced that it would be consolidating its telecom brands under the KPN banner. Earlier this month, all Telfort stores in the Netherlands were closed.
BRINGLY BRINGS SAME-DAY DELIVERY TO AMSTERDAM
Beginning on June 10th, shoppers in Amsterdam will be able to place orders with local retailers through the Bringly.nl website or smartphone app and have the order delivered that same evening by bike courier. The service will launch with a coverage area that includes the Amsterdam Centrum, Oost, West, Zuid and Noord districts.
Related information…