General
Dutch chains HEMA and Albert Heijn have announced the first locations where they will test a combined store concept. This autumn, Rotterdam and Utrecht will see the first stores in which both chains share the floor.
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Furniture
Ramphastos Investments, the investment company that owns Hema, has converted the debts of the Dutch chain into shares. The worth of the deal amounts to 103 million euros.
Hema had a bumpy ride last year: comparable turnover dropped and losses increased due to the change in ownership. The department store chain is therefore making some bold choices: it's selling its bakeries and developing wholesale activities for the first time.
Dutch chains Hema and Albert Heijn (Ahold Delhaize) are opening two pilot stores, in which customers can do their shopping at both chains at the same time. The test should start later this year.
The unusually hot weather and the transition to a new e-commerce platform and distribution centre for online orders have taken a toll on Hema's quarterly turnover.
Dutch Hema is feeling the strength of its new owner Marcel Boekhoorn. Four of the current eight directors have to leave the company in the next few months, they will not be replaced.
Dutch retailer Hema has finally found a new owner: Ramphastos Investments. This investment company in the hands of Dutch enterpreneur Marcel Boekhoorn has paid an undisclosed amount for the internationally successful chain.
Dutch chain Hema has opened its first store outside of Europe, in Abu Dhabi. With this store, the chain wants to test which products are successful in this new market.
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.
Dutch Hema has raised its quarterly turnover by 2.8 % to 291.4 million euro and halved its net loss to 6 million euro, as a result of a strong growth online and offline. The retailer focuses on Germany as a target for future expansion plans.
Belgian investment fund Core Equity will not take over the Dutch Hema group after all, as an agreement with franchisers about e-commerce could not be reached.
Fashion
Store chain Hema needs to pay a 4.4 million euro fine to jeans brand Levi’s after the latter went to court because Hema applied its V-shaped stitching to its own collection.
Belgian Core Equity holding is allegedly close to acquiring Dutch chain HEMA: a verbal agreement is apparently in place, all that is required are the signatures.
After years of losses, Hema now experienced its second profitable quarter in a row. The department store chain is also happy with its annual turnover: it published a 1,235.5 million euro record turnover, a 3.5 % increase.
Dutch department store chain Hema, on sale since September, is not attracting much attention, because interested parties feel it is overpriced. Previous attempts to sell the company have also failed.
Hema will head outside of Europe for the first time ever: it will open three stores in Dubai later this year. In the next five years, the Dutch chain aims to open a sizeable number of Middle-Eastern stores.
