HEMA range at Jumbo not a success

Experts say sales of Hema products in Jumbo supermarkets are “far too low”. The opposite part of the collaboration, Jumbo products appearing in Hema department stores, seems to have been cancelled.

5 euros per hour

For several years now, most Jumbo stores have featured a shelf with Hema products: this is now the case in 690 of the 725 Jumbo supermarkets in the Netherlands and Belgium. The range includes bread boxes, crockery, candles, tights, nail scissors, stationery and party accessories. The partnership makes sense, given that the Van Eerd family, which owns Jumbo, has also been co-owner of Hema since 2021. However, recent figures suggest that the project is not a resounding success.

In 2024, shoppers bought 14.3 million euros worth of Hema products at Jumbo supermarkets: slightly more than the 14.1 million euros a year earlier, Dutch media outlet RTL reports. That is less than 1 % of the department store chain’s total sales of over 1.4 billion euros in 2024. Turnover per supermarket amounts to under 60 euros per day – or less than 5 euros per hour.

Still satisfied

That is “very low”, supermarket expert Erik Hemmes points out. On average, a Hema shelf in a Jumbo supermarket is about four metres wide, which means that sales stall at about 100 euros per metre per week, whereas the average in a supermarket should be about 580 euros. Even if you see the Hema shelf as an extra service for customers, he said, sales are too low.

Moreover, Jumbo and HEMA had also announced a collaboration in the opposite direction: the department store chain would start selling Jumbo-branded products such as meals and sandwiches on the go. However, nothing came of that, perhaps because the convenience offer in the cities is already very large.

Nevertheless, Jumbo said in a comment that it was satisfied with the cooperation. Hema and Jumbo learn from each other in terms of assortment and logistics, the retailer says. Both chains also buy advertising together.