Ten years after the start of Winkelhart Zwaagdijk, the ‘unwanted child of the municipality of Medemblik’ – as they call themselves – appears to be a great success. Thousands of West Frisian visitors regularly visit the shopping center. The strong influx of shoppers has long been the cause of strong calls for additional access. “We’ve been talking for eight years.”
Zwaagdijk-East, it is not the first place that you associate with a well-stocked shopping center. Nevertheless, the Winkelhart Zwaagdijk has been running at full capacity from the start, now 10 years ago.
The explanation behind the shopping center’s success is unequivocal. A wide range of shops and sufficient (free) parking. The 13 stores include an Aldi, Action, Jumbo and Wibra. But there is also a bakery, drug store, shoe store and an optician. “It’s not big here, but everything is there,” says Martin Schouten.
Free parking
He is the face behind the pet store, which has been pleased with the location from the start. “Free parking is a big advantage. Just go and park in Hoorn. It may not cost you a monthly salary, but it’s getting along nicely.” ‘Zwaagdijk’ has a total of 400 parking spaces.
Niels Entius of Winkelhart Zwaagdijk can only look back with satisfaction on the past ten years. “It was noisy, we’ve had a lot of visitors and we haven’t had a change of shopkeeper in ten years. Those are good observations.”
More willingness
There was a lot to do about the arrival of the shopping centre, which not everyone was waiting for. “We have always been the unwanted child of the municipality of Medemblik,” says Entius. “Now we notice that council members are much more willing. Because they realize: Zwaagdijk is there and will continue to exist.”
This willingness is necessary to fulfill a great wish from the shopping center. The constant flow of cars at the entrance creates dangerous situations at the Tuinstraat-Zwaagdijk intersection. That is why there has been talk for some time about extra access, which should ensure a better distribution of the traffic. “We’ve been in talks for 8 years and the municipality is not quite there yet.”
In 2020, a letter of intent was signed by shopping center owner Leo Entius and the municipality, but there is no solution yet. “It is a lot of talking, a lot of sitting in each other’s chair. That also makes it tiring to start the conversation again and again.”
Niels Entius hopes that white smoke will appear soon. “It is a very big wish. Everyone sees that it is necessary to make the shopping center future-proof.”