Christmas has started at De Boet garden center: “People don’t like to economize on fun”

When you walk into the garden center De Boet in Hoogwoud you can hardly notice the energy crisis. The entrance is richly decorated with plants, in the corner is a huge illuminated mushroom and in the middle is a pond with smoke floating over it.

It’s an imaginative event and it looks great. And it has to be: today is the official opening of their Christmas show.

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Director Jord Beers arrives. When asked whether they should save money, he answers: “Yes, but we don’t cut back on atmosphere! We do switch on the heating a little later and at a lower temperature. It does remain comfortable for the customer, for example, in our cafe, rugs are available. We’re not compromising on the size of the show.”

Concert of polar bears

And it shows. After passing numerous Christmas trees, a concert of polar bears and countless Christmas balls, you arrive at the Christmas villages. While Michael Bublé plays with Holly Jolly Christmas in the background and a train whizzes by, José Coenraadts, one of the makers of the village, proudly explains.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years. In the summer we start drawing the tables and at the end of August the carpenters start the construction. Then it’s up to us to build the village. Many people like the tinkering, I like it lovely.”

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The show has already attracted a lot of attention. Parents with children, young couples, the elderly, everyone seems to like it. Lizzy Kieftenburg is looking around and has already devised a plan to reduce the Christmas costs. “I’m just going to replace a lamp for the Christmas tree! Then the lights can stay. I’m also going to save on the balls, I’m using those from previous years.”

Just up the tree

The couple Selma and Gerard van Tienderen are lucky: “We still have a fixed energy contract for the next two years. We keep an eye on it, but the lights just go into the tree. Conviviality comes first.” They do notice that the costs of the fun items have risen: “I was shocked by that!”, she says while looking in her shopping cart.

In exactly 71 days it will be Christmas and until then Jord Beers expects the same number of visitors as in previous years. “Perhaps the spending per customer will be a bit lower, but we think that is logical.”