Over the last five years, there has been an increase when it comes to the opening hours of supermarkets, with one in seven supermarkets staying open until 22:00, all as a response to growing demand from customers.
If five years ago, there were only 250 supermarkets open until late out of the approximately 4000 different branches, nowadays the number has doubled to 550 supermarkets open until 10:00 PM.
Albert Heijn leading the way in this development
Albert Heijn is one of the main supermarkets which has started keeping its stores open until late. Estimates are that around 36% of AH supermarkets stay open until 10:00 PM, allowing for more flexibility for customers when it comes to doing their groceries, according to a spokesperson. Not every store is following this trend however, with supermarkets like Aldi having a very small percentage of stores that stay open after 10:00 PM.
That’s way past nap hour:
Dissatisfaction with the longer hours
Trade unions have caught on to this development, and are not particularly happy with it. There are concerns over the impact this will have for small shopkeepers, who will be forced to adapt to the longer open hours. Unlike big chains like Albert Heijn, they might not have the necessary resources to do all of this.
Mari Martens, a member of the FNV trade union, considers it completely irresponsible that big supermarkets choose to remain open later, and those smaller business owners who are forced to participate in this “violence“ .
The CNV trade union also backs up the criticism, with one representative urging people to consider where the line is drawn with regards to closing hours, and that if they are to remain open longer and later; workers would need better pay and benefits.
Do you find it convenient that supermarkets are open until later? Let us know in the comments.
Feature Image: ElasticComputeFarm/pixabay
When I first visited the Netherlands in 1999, shops closed at 5.30, there was no Sunday opening and Monday for almost all shops was also a close day. Every Thursday became mad Thursday in Deventer when shops opened until 8pm, the roads were solid with cars near the parkeerengarage. Then shops started to open on one Sunday of the month.
Now Dirk van den Broek is open every day of the week until 8pm or maybe ten, I’ve never been there after 8.
I preferred it as it was but it helps my friends who work in Den Haag and travel back to Deventer and don’t get back until 8pm.