Department store chain celebrates 140th anniversary

AMSTERDAM – This year, it is 140 years since Simon Philip Goudsmit opened his store, called De Bijenkorf (or The Beehive) at 132 Nieuwendijk in Amsterdam. Now opened by an international capital venture group and part of a multi-national retail group, De Bijenkorf, which bills itself as the country’s ‘leading’ or ‘premier’ department store chain, has outlets in nearly all major cities in the Netherlands and employs a staff of 4,100. The chain celebrated the anniversary by holding a six-week long series of shopping events with one-time Special Edit140ns. In conjuction with the chain’s anniversary, Amsterdam’s city archives featured an online photo exhibiton of the chain, which has its flagship store on the Damrak.