Canadian department store chain Hudson’s Bay just opened its first Dutch store, filling a void left by Dutch V&D’s bankruptcy.
350 million euro
The first store is located on Amsterdam’s Rokin, but later this week, it will also open stores in The Hague and Rotterdam. In the next three weeks, it will have opened ten stores. It plans to open fifteen stores, including fourteen in former V&D locations, which will also house a La Place restaurant.
However, this very first store is in an entirely new location, with its own restaurant. The Amsterdam store has to become the chain’s Dutch flagship store.
“We announced our plans for a Dutch Hudson’s Bay sixteen months ago”, CEO Jerry Storch told FD. “We will now launch alongside 1,600 employees, growing our staff numbers to 2,500 by next year. We will open ten department stores this month, something the world has never witnessed.3 The chain will invest 350 million euro into the Netherlands.
Service
Hudson’s Bay Netherlands mainly wants to distinguish itself from other chains thanks to its services. It wants to emphasize its services because it realizes people can buy the products elsewhere as well. It will have large fitting rooms, a watch repair service, a barber and a demonstration kitchen.
Hudson’s Bay mainly targets the middle segment of the overall consumer base, but also have room for luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Gucci. This will create some sort of overlap (or competition) with De Bijenkorf. However, it will mostly have vintage items, instead of new items.
