Following weeks of delays, Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) opened the first of 15 planned Dutch department stores on Tuesday as part of a €300 mln rollout in the Netherlands.
The Amsterdam flagship store occupies four buildings totalling 17,000 m2 of GLA and is located on the Rokin shopping thoroughfare and nearby Nes street. Another nine stores are set to open in other Dutch cities in September, including one in Rotterdam and one in The Hague, followed by four stores in 2018 and another in 2019.
HBC is seeking to fill the gap in the market left by mid-range Dutch department store chain V&D which went bankrupt one-and-a-half years ago. With the exception of the Amsterdam store, which occupies Fortis Bank's former HQ, all the others will be housed in former V&D buildings which occupy prime locations on Dutch high streets.
Two of the 15 stores will be operated under Hudson’s Bay’s Saks Off 5th outlet brand. Earlier this year, HBC acquired a distribution centre in Mijdrecht near the central Dutch city of Utrecht and the retailer has also signed agreements with bookstore Scheltema and restaurant chain La Place to provide the book and food offerings respectively for the stores.
First store outside Canada
'This is an historic moment in HBC’s 347-year history, marking the first Hudson’s Bay store ever to open outside of Canada and adding a new market to our diverse geographic footprint,'said Jerry Storch, CEO of HBC. 'Just 16 months after we announced our plans to enter the Dutch market, we are very excited to introduce our innovative, all-channel retail model to the Netherlands.'
He added: 'As one of the world’s most exciting department stores, Hudson’s Bay will deliver a fun and modern shopping experience to consumers in the Netherlands where there is an unmet demand for a premium department store.'
In terms of retail format, HBC sits at the upper end of the market, offering a mix of national and international premium brands, mid-market labels and emerging brands, including more than 100 Dutch brands. The range is extensive, running from Tommy Hilfiger and Armani to Filippa K, Polo and Ralph Lauren, as well as Opening Ceremony. As such, it will rival the current luxury market leader, De Bijenkorf.
The Amsterdam store will function as a 'laboratory' for other Hudson's Bay stores in North America and Europe. Storch said it would target local consumers as well as foreign tourists visiting the city.
Under pressure
The Dutch store openings come at a time when HBC is under pressure from activist shareholders to make more money from the company's bricks-and-mortar assets, which total over C$10 bn (€6.7 bn) in value.
Besides the Netherlands and its North American home market, the company also has a presence in Belgium and in Germany, where it owns the ailing Galeria Kaufhof chain. HBC has rejected calls to pull out of Europe, insisting it remains committed to the region and plans to press ahead with modernising around 20 Kaufhof stores in 2018.
