Hema plans on focusing on its own stores and online channels within the Benelux and France even more than before. After withdrawing from the United Kingdom and Spain, the retailer is also discontinuing its collaboration with Dutch Wehkamp and French group Casino.
“Better in the long run”
Since 2019, Hema has been offering a selection of 250 items through several dozen branches of Franprix and Casino-Géant (both part of the Groupe Casino). At the time, owner Marcel Boekhoorn wanted to make Hema a brand that was available to consumers in different stores. He also entered into similar collaborations with other (online) retailers, including Wehkamp and Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo.
In the meantime, however, there have been many changes: the van Eerd family (who owns Jumbo) have become Hema’s new owners, and Saskia Egas Reparaz was appointed new Hema CEO in June. When she took office, she stated that the retail chain would primarily focus on sustainable growth in the core markets, specifically Benelux and France. The recent withdrawals from the United Kingdom and Spain are part of that strategy.
Now, Hema is also ending its cooperation with Wehkamp, Franprix and Casino-Geant. The partnership with Jumbo, which involves Hema displays at Jumbo supermarkets, will not be ended. “It is important for Hema to focus on its own stores and online sales channels within the chosen core countries”, CEO Egas Reparaz said in a press release. “Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to channels that fall outside this scope for the moment. By making this choice, we can better exploit growth opportunities in the future.”
Hema, meanwhile, is looking at Germany and Austria as potential growth markets. These countries will be “further investigated in terms of customer potential.”
