General
Dutch retailer Hema has entered the Mexican market via a webshop. The opening of 200 physical stores - scheduled for this year - has been delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis.
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Marcel Boekhoorn is dropped from the board of directors at Dutch retailer Hema: the last link between former owner and the chain has been severed.
Food
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo saw a 14 % turnover growth in the first six months of 2020, exceeding market growth of 8.5 %. Online sales exploded, but progress in Belgium was slower than expected and the La Place restaurants seem to be in a bit of a pickle.
Ahold Delhaize joins the battle for Hema and undertakes a new attempt to incorporate the Dutch department store chain.
Investors seem to be very interested in department store chain Hema: American investment fund Flacks Group is presenting itself as a potential buyer. The fund is also looking at other chains in the Benelux.
The Covid crisis has hit certain department stores very hard: can they recover - and, if so, how? The book The Future of Department Stores sheds some light through own analysis and interviews with icons from the sector.
The new owners of Dutch retailer Hema are already looking to sell their chain - and they are not very subtle about it. CEO Tjeerd Jegen says he will not accept just anyone.
Furniture
Creditors have offered to cancel half of the debt of Dutch chain Hema (some 300 million euros), if owner Marcel Boekhoorn hands them the ownership.
Dutch Hema has decided to delay publication of its full-year results for the second time, as accountants struggle to declare the chain viable.
Struggling Dutch chain Hema tries to find a way out of its problems: owner Marcel Boekhoorn wants to invest new capital, but only if the creditors reduce the debts.
Dutch retail chain Hema has reached an agreement with some of its landlords to halve the rent for its stores for April and May. It would appear that the intention of the Amsterdam-based retailer is to extend this agreement to all of its stores.
Frits van Eerd, CEO of Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo, wants to expand into Wallonia - and from there, France. New markets can be conquered if a chain offers premium experience at discount prices, he says.
Dutch retailer Hema plans to cross the Atlantic and conquer America: this year its first ten stores in Mexico are planned to open. There is even potential for 200 shops in Mexico, the Amsterdam-based company believes.
The collaboration between Dutch chains Jumbo and Hema, which they had already announced in November last year, started this morning with a festive ceremony in the Jumbo Food Market in Breda. Other stores in the Netherlands and Belgium will follow soon.
Retailers in the Benelux will face declining consumer confidence and increasing competition in the coming years, credit rating agency Moody’s says in a new report. Traditional retail chains are forced to make high investments due to the growth of online retail, which has a negative impact on profits and creditworthiness.
Credit rating agency Moody's is very concerned because Hema has postponed a repayment to parent company AMEH XXVI. The Dutch chain's total debt, some 750 million euros, and the dismissal of CFO Ivo Vliegen, are also a cause for concern for Moody’s.
