“Worthless for Jumbo”, responds the Brabant supermarket expert Paul Moers to the raid on Tuesday at the boss of the supermarket chain Frits van Eerd. In the short term, Moers does not expect major consequences due to reputational damage. “People are not going to avoid Jumbo today, because it is not clear what is going on. If Van Eerd has illegally enriched himself or his company, the consequences could be serious.”
Moers: “Certainly in these times there will be little understanding among customers. People think of their enormous energy bill and expensive groceries. It will not go well for a top executive to cheat everyone.”
It is the first blemish on the success image of a brilliant entrepreneur, continues Moers. “It remains to be seen whether Van Eerd is involved in money laundering, but the past has shown that successful supermarket managers can mess with the administration.”
The raid by the FIOD also came out of the blue for retail expert Moers. “The first reaction is: ‘Money laundering doesn’t need such a man, does it?’ But then I immediately thought of Ahold, whose CEO Cees van der Hoeven was convicted years ago for messing with the accounts. Apparently some always want more. ”
“Lately, it has been rattling a bit at Jumbo.”
Paul Moers has a high regard for Frits van Eerd. “It is a supermarket genius. But lately things have been rattling a bit at Jumbo. Jumbo’s interests in Hema and La Place make the focus less sharp. And the successful business formula was always ‘the lowest price’, but now they work with savings campaigns, which cost the company money, so that they can focus less on the lowest price.
According to Moers, Van Eerd has to do at least one thing at the moment: “Just sit still while he is shaved. It is mainly a matter of waiting, for everyone.”
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