Hema reaches a milestone in Belgium, opening its 100th Belgian store in Bruges. Eight more stores are already in planning phase, scheduled to open within the next twelve months.
Focus on smaller towns
In its renewed search for growth, the Dutch retailer is focussing on areas where it is not yet present, opening a last store for this year in Wetteren (near Ghent). The chain sees positive results in the smaller towns where it invests in proximity through smaller stores, Country Director Carla Velghe explains: they are “the perfect complement to the shops in large cities such as Antwerp and Brussels, which mainly focus on fun shopping.”
Growth is also taking place online: “With the recently launched loyalty programme, we connect our customers online and offline, blurring the line between the physical and digital shop”, Velghe says.
