HOLLAND RETAIL NEWS: Sept 2019
Netherlands retail news, trends and stories during September included the brands Urban Outfitters (Anthropologie), Forever 21, C&A, Caroline Biss, BOL.com and more…
ANTHROPOLOGIE TO OPEN STORE IN AMSTERDAM
American fashion and home decor company, Urban Outfitters, will bring a third brand to the Netherlands with the opening of an Anthropologie store in Amsterdam. The opening date is not known but expected to be in November at the start of the holiday shopping season. The company is already active in Holland with 3 Urban Outfitters retail stores (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht) and one Free People store which opened in Amsterdam earlier this year. Urban Outfitters will add a fourth store shortly in Maastricht. Anthropologie sells a unique mix of women’s clothing, footwear, bags, jewelry and home decor and targets shoppers in the 30-45 year old age group.
CAROLINE BISS OPENS STORE IN BREDA
Belgian women’s brand Caroline Biss opened its 10th store in the Netherlands during September, in the Dutch town of Breda. In addition to company-owned boutiques, the brand sells its clothing, dresses and fashion accessories in department stores and specialty retailers.
FOREVER21 GOES BANKRUPT
The American fast fashion retailer Forever21 went into bankruptcy on September 30th and announced it would seek to close over 150 stores in its portfolio, including a large number located outside the United States. That likely spells bad news for the last remaining Forever21 store in the Netherlands, located in the BeursTraverse (Koopgoot) in the Rotterdam city center.
HUDSON’S BAY LEAKED NEWS ABOUT DUTCH STORES
The biggest retail news in Holland came early in the month with the leak of non-public communication between HBC and its shareholders. The Canadian corporation spelled out certain steps it was taking to turnaround its sagging business, which included exiting the European market by the end of the year. The company stated it could not continue investing in its money-losing Hudson’s Bay department store chain in the Netherlands. While not unexpected, the news came as a surprise to several property management companies through which Hudson’s Bay has long-term leases and to the Dutch retail workers’ labor union, none of which had been contacted directly up until then.
NETHERLANDS ONLINE SHOPPING INCREASING
Online shopping in the Netherlands continues to grow with the number of purchases made during the first six months of 2019 up by 9% over 2018.
DUTCH BRAND C&A AMONG 10 BIGGEST IN EUROPE
Dutch retailer C&A is one of the 10 largest fashion companies based in Europe according to the German group TextilWirtschaft which ranks C&A at #9 with estimated annual sales of €5.84 billion. The five largest European fashion companies are #1 Inditex (Sales: €26.1B, Brands: Bershka, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Zara), #2 Adidas (Sales €21.9B), #3 H&M Group (Sales: €20.5B, Brands: COS, H&M, Monki, Weekday), #4 LVMH (Sales: €18.5B, Brands: Christian Dior, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Moet & Chandon) and #5 Kering (Sales: €13.6B, Brands: Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent).
BESTE WINKELEN AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The winners of the Beste Winkelen Awards 2019-2020 were announced in September with Dutch retailers Welkoop, Primera and Zeeman each won in multiple categories. The Dutch Retailer of the Year Awards are voted on by consumers across 57 categories, 30 for chain stores and 27 for online shops.
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