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The Dutch Hema chain has ended the franchising agreement for 24 stores after a long lasting dispute about how much franchisers have to pay for online sales.
Getting out of hand
In a letter, Hema puts an end to the agreements with 24 franchisers who spearhead the organisation VAB and wants to make sure they are not allowed any more to manage Hema stores. Some 40 % of Dutch Hema stores are managed through franchising, but only those leading the VAB are targeted in the letter, newspaper FD writes.
The row is about how much franchisers have to pay for online turnover, as many orders are being collected in physical stores. The chain’s board feels that it has to invest a lot in the web shop to make it profitable, and that it is only logical that franchisers have to chip in as well. The latter however think that the rising amount they have to pay deserves more explanation.
This tension is not new and is rumoured to be the reason why Belgian investors Core Equity stepped away from acquiring Hema in the end: it would not like to step aboard a chain with such financial struggles.
