The similarities are so great that you can hardly believe it is a coincidence. The Stemm Voetiek and Gentle stores are both located in the Anegang in the city center of Haarlem. Both businesses sell underwear. And both are now calling it quits after decades.
In the already historic Anegang, two classic facades stand out even more. They are diagonally opposite each other and are immediately reminiscent of earlier times. “They don’t make them like that anymore,” you hear yourself mutter as you take a good look at the facades. The most striking: the round, meter-high display windows on both sides of the entrance.
Expensive windows, as it turns out. Ianthe Lammers van Toorenburg, owner of the Stemm Voetiek, remembers it well. “Someone had pushed their bicycle too wildly against the shop. This caused an asterisk to appear in the window. So that had to be replaced. And one such window costs 10,000 euros.”
“The glass had to come from Antwerp. A specialist from Amsterdam made it custom. A huge truck brought it here. Six employees went to install the window. Then the window turned out to be too small and it could be remade. Luckily it was an insurance issue.”
When Lammers saw the graceful, Art Nouveau-style facade 22 years ago, she immediately knew that her store should be located here. She had just taken over Stemm Voetiek from the previous owner. He had already canceled the lease of the original location. Anegang 30 became the new address. “Four shopping streets intersect here. So you have enough shoppers.”
Insecure times
Ianthe saw that audience change. “Corona was really the turning point. People have become more careful about spending money. I get it, these are uncertain times. They prefer to hoard now.”
Now there are posters with ‘closing-out sales’ on the windows and shoppers are opening their wallets for the offers. Sad, but Martha isn’t too bitter about it. The more that is sold now, the sooner the store will be empty. Time for a completely new challenge: she will work as a supervisor at Schiphol.
The real bargain hunter crosses from Anegang 30 to Anegang 25. There are also posters on the windows. ‘Selling empty’, ‘everything has to go’, ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’. Jan Retèl has been here for 38 years with his underwear shop Gentle.
Jan is retiring, he is already 72 years old. “I have looked for a successor for a long time, but one has not presented itself. That’s a shame, but so be it. I live wonderfully on the edge of the center and I have several projects to focus on. So I’m looking forward to my days off.”
For sale
Jan had to swallow hard when, in addition to the posters of the sale, another sign appeared on the facade: ‘For sale’. “I have been trying to buy this property for years. That was not possible then. And just when I stop, it will come onto the market.”
It is therefore still unclear what purpose Anegang 30 will have. Since the building is a municipal monument, little will change on the outside. The same applies to the neighbor’s building at number 25. The characteristic facade will also remain the same due to its monument status.
Hotel rooms
However, a major renovation will take place on the first and second floors. The owner also owns two adjacent properties. He joins the upper floors together to create hotel rooms.
It is still unclear what will happen to the retail space on the ground floor once the last remnants of Stemm Voetiek’s range have been sold.