Some are moving into larger premises, while others are going smaller. They all had that one sign in front of the door: ‘We have moved’. It sometimes seems like a musical musical chairs of moving shops in the center of Haarlem. In some cases, the shops will reopen just a few buildings away. Why all the changes in the center?
If you’ve recently walked through the Haarlem shopping streets, you’ve probably noticed that the center looks quite different from a few months ago. Well-known shops are suddenly located in completely different places in the city.
For example, the Flying Tiger moved from Zijlstraat to Grote Houtstraat, and the two WE clothing stores are moving to a building further away. Sustainability store WAAR is also in the middle of a move to a new location.
Looking for another place
The Popshop, which had been in Nieuwstraat for 29 years, has also recently moved. The store has found a new home in the Gierstraat. “The owner of the previous building sold it,” says Buddie ter Meulen, third owner of the store. “But it was not affordable and a lot had to be done about it, so I had to look for another place and found this larger place during corona.”
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According to Falco Bloemendal, center manager of Haarlem, all these relocations have several causes. “It mainly has to do with rents,” he explains. “When a lease expires, you as a store owner can choose to renew it or negotiate with another landlord for a lower price.”
Better location
Another scenario that Bloemendal mentions is that when shop owners had less income during the coronalockdowns, they got into an argument with their landlord about paying the rent. “And stores can of course also move because they can move to a much better location,” says Bloemendal.
“Six to seven thousand people pass by here a day”
Ter Meulen, owner of the Popshop, was able to negotiate the rent with the landlord of the new building.
“I rent from a private landlord. He wanted certainty, a tenant for a longer period of time. It was corona and I was able to negotiate the rent a bit. Then I was able to fix the rent for a lower monthly amount for five years, in a much bigger property than I had.”
To switch
Another striking change in the Grote Houtstraat is the recent departure of the Esprit, from the building that previously housed the Cinema Palace. According to the Noordhollands Dagblad, the C&Awhich has been located in the Anegang for many years, will move to the building.
Shops that can get a better place, or can pay a lower rent elsewhere, therefore often move. In most cases, the shops move to nearby properties, sometimes just a few meters away.
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Esprit has left the Grote Houtstraat
Esprit was located in the old building of Cinema Palace
Relocation sale at a current WE . location
New WE . branch
According to Bloemendal, the relocations also have another consequence. “Buildings that become vacant are nowadays often renovated by landlords, so that people can live above the shops. That is because as a landlord you can now get more money per square meter,” he explains.
More living space
This creates more living space and also ensures that landlords can request a lower rent for the retail property on the ground floor. “With the housing shortage and the high prices, you see that living above shops is happening more and more. That is a recent development and that will continue for a while,” Bloemendal predicts.
Finally, he believes that a number of store relocations have to do with different choices made by store owners. “They then choose, for example, to occupy less square meters. The WE, for example, goes from two branches in Haarlem to one.”
Happy with move
In any case, Ter Meulen is very satisfied with his new, larger retail space. “We renovated everything here during corona and that first month, during the renovation, I didn’t have to pay rent yet. That was nice. A lot of people walk past here, about six to seven thousand people a day. I’m sitting here anyway a good place and hopefully can stay here for a long time.”