De Bijenkorf

De Bijenkorf, meaning "the beehive" in Dutch, is a prestigious chain of department stores in the Netherlands. Its flagship store is located on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The company is owned by the Selfridges Group, which also owns renowned department stores such as Selfridges in Britain and Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland.

De Bijenkorf was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1929 to 2012, and several of its CEOs have served as presidents of the Association during that time.

The history of De Bijenkorf dates back to its founding in 1870 by Simon Philip Goudsmit. It started as a small haberdashery shop on Nieuwendijk, one of Amsterdam's oldest streets. Initially, the store offered a limited range of products, focusing on yarn and ribbons, and had only four employees. Over time, the business gradually expanded its stock. Following Goudsmit's death in 1889, his widow, with the assistance of a cousin named Arthur Isaac and her son Alfred, expanded the business by acquiring adjacent buildings.

In 1909, the connecting shops were replaced by a new building. That same year, a temporary building was constructed on the site of the demolished Beurs van Zocher, and construction of a new store began beside it.

In 1926, De Bijenkorf opened its second store in The Hague, designed by architect Piet Kramer in the distinctive Amsterdam School architectural style.

The company further expanded with the opening of a third store in Rotterdam in 1930, which was designed by Willem Dudok. The grand opening ceremony attracted approximately 700,000 visitors. However, during the Rotterdam Blitz in 1940, the store suffered significant damage. The surviving part of the store remained open until 1957 but was eventually cleared in 1960 to make way for the construction of the Rotterdam Metro. A new store was later designed by Hungarian-American architect Marcel Breuer.

During the occupation of Amsterdam by the Nazis, De Bijenkorf was deemed a "Jewish enterprise," and the Nazis discouraged their soldiers from shopping there. In the later part of the 20th century, the store was owned by the Maxeda group.

As of 2014, De Bijenkorf operates seven stores throughout the Netherlands. The oldest and largest branches, located in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam, offer retail spaces ranging from 15,000 to 21,000 square meters. Smaller stores with retail spaces of 7,500 to 10,000 square meters can be found in Amstelveen, Eindhoven, Utrecht, and Maastricht.

In late 2014 and early 2015, branches in Arnhem, Groningen, Enschede, Breda, and Den Bosch closed as part of the company's strategic decision to focus on premium services and online offerings. The closure of the Arnhem location, which was taken over by Primark, was seen by many residents as a significant blow to Arnhem's appeal as a shopping destination.