The canvas falls in front of café De Gele Kameel on Raadhuisplein in Emmen. A year and a half after the opening, the case applied for the bankruptcy. According to owner Jan Braam, a persistent staff shortage has played a determining role.
Anyone who currently walks along the yellow camel will already find an empty business. The furniture has disappeared and a sign with the announcement is hanging on the door: vacation until July 17. Yet it is not a temporary closure, because the café will not return. The rental building is waiting for a different interpretation.
Braam (59), experienced hospitality man from the region, recently largely only pulled the cart in the yellow camel. “I worked for eighty hours a week. Cleaning, baking pancakes, cleaning again. And that together with one colleague. There is simply no staff to be found,” he says. According to him, that has been the main cause of the bankruptcy.
Since January, Braam no longer worked with another hospitality entrepreneur with whom he started the business. “Two captains on a ship, that turned out not to work.”
Braam also points to the government with an accusing finger. According to him, current laws and regulations are so strict and complicated that decent entrepreneurship is no longer possible. “Whether it’s terraces, roofs or stickers on your windows.”
The stress said he put him on his heart. “I ended up in the hospital.” There are also financial consequences for Braam. “Although the debt that remains is small, I have not had any income for two years. I also lost money to it myself, my pension was in this case.”
For the time being, Braam has no concrete plans. “First take it easy. A few weeks to Spain and then I will look further. One thing is certain: I will no longer work as an entrepreneur in the Netherlands. I am done with it.”
The yellow camel was opened at the beginning of 2024 on the ground floor of the former tax flat on Raadhuisplein. In the past, Braam ran catering establishments under the name De Witte Olifant in Schoonebeek and Klazienaveen.