De Bijenkorf
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| Type | Department store |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1870, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Website | www.bijenkorf.nl |
De Bijenkorf (literally, "the beehive"[1]) is a chain of upscale department stores in the Netherlands with its flagship store on Dam Square, Amsterdam. Founded by Simon Philip Goudsmit (1845-1889) in 1870 as a small store along the Nieuwendijk, one of Amsterdam's oldest streets, it offers many prestigious brands in clothing, accessories, beauty, food, and home. De Bijenkorf has 12 stores nationwide. The oldest and largest branches, situated in Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam are referred to by the company as its flagship stores, with retail space ranging between 15,000 and 20,000 square meters. Smaller stores (7,500-10,000 m² of retail space) can be found in Amstelveen, Arnhem, Eindhoven, Enschede, Utrecht and Maastricht. The branches in Breda, Den Bosch and Groningen specialize in fashion (3,000 m² retail space).
De Bijenkorf was owned by Maxeda (formerly known as VendexKBB), but at the end of 2010 was sold to the same family that owns Britain's Selfridges, Canada's Holt Renfrew and Ireland's Brown Thomas.
[edit] History
During the occupation of Amsterdam by the Nazis, they did not want their soldiers shopping at De Bijenkorf due to it being of "Jewish concern." The store could not close due to its popularity, thus, they prohibited German soldiers from shopping on the ground floor. The ground floor was where the majority of the Jewish employees worked, in the luxury goods department.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Martin Dunford (2010). The Rough Guide to The Netherlands. Penguin. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-1-84836-882-8.
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