Almost always in the workshop and dressed in a blue dust coat. It is not difficult to find volunteer Riewert Hoogeveen in the thrift store The Struunhuus in Assen. At 87, he is the oldest employee, but he is retiring. “The body no longer wants to walk, it becomes increasingly difficult.”
For almost 35 years he has owned just about everything that is brought into the thrift store. “I really do everything here,” he says. “Sorting, repairing, cleaning, you name it.” A really handy Harrie. “You naturally become that way after all these years.”
But he hangs up his dust coat, “I sewed the store logo on it myself”. By the way, he found that dust coat among the thrift store items years ago.
He will miss work the most, but he does not think he will return to the workshop often. “No, why? If you resign, you won’t go back to work, will you?” There is a coffee corner in the store. “I think I’ll go there for a cup of coffee sometime.”
He works three days a week, which means he gets a lot of free hours in return. “I’m not going to sit behind the geraniums, but I am going to sit behind the computer. And I’m going to play cards and cycle with my girlfriend.”
In his last working week, Hoogeveen does nothing special and simply closes the door behind him on his last working day. “Just like usual.” But his colleagues won’t let him go home empty-handed. They surprise him with a nice drinks package. “Well deserved!”, says owner Willem Hoeve, who will miss his oldest employee.