Changing purchasing behavior and the growth of online shopping have had a negative impact on the shopping streets for some time now. Amsterdam has no problem with a vacancy rate of 4 percent, but in Rotterdam, Haarlem and The Hague it is already twice as much. In Heerlen, 27 percent of retail properties are vacant, in Bergen op Zoom 24 percent and in Hoogeveen 18 percent, real estate agency NVM Business reported on Wednesday in its annual report on the retail market.
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“This shows that structural interventions are still necessary. To stimulate redevelopment of shopping areas, financial incentives and cooperation between parties are essential,” says Sven Bertens, board member of NVM Business.
Homes
With the Impulse Approach Shopping Areas programme, governments, entrepreneurs and property owners are already working together on the repurposing of retail real estate in order to reduce the supply. As a result, approximately 20 football fields worth of retail space has now been removed in 41 shopping areas. This has been replaced by 5,000 homes.
For example, in the municipality of Hilversum, which still has a vacancy rate of 13 percent, the public library has been brought back to the city center, together with a branch of Beeld & Geluid. In Apeldoorn (16 percent vacancy), the De Orangerie shopping center will be demolished in favor of 419 homes, a hotel and a city park.
“Almost everywhere, many square meters of retail are being removed from the market and homes are being added,” says Jacques de Win, advisor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Traditional shops are disappearing
According to NVM board member Bertens, a new cabinet will have to provide more money. “So that other vulnerable shopping areas can also make the transition to future-proof locations.”
The real estate agency has noted that traditional shops, such as fashion and shoe stores, are increasingly disappearing from the street scene. This will be replaced by discount stores and online brand stores. Wibra grew from 237 to 283 stores in one year. Takko Fashion also grew, from 96 to 115 locations.
Bankrupt buildings sometimes find new users quickly. For example, chains such as Hema, Wibra and Van Haren started using former Blokker buildings. In addition, Blokker made a new start at many locations under the name New Blokker.
Long-term vacancy
According to NVM Business, more than 12,500 points of sale in the Netherlands have disappeared between 2020 and January 2025. “The disappeared sales points have mainly been transformed into homes or office spaces, or they have been demolished to make way for new functions.”
Vacancy in shopping streets is increasing significantly, catering and hairdressers are filling gaps
However, the disappearance of points of sale is often not fast enough to eliminate vacancy, NVM Business notes. For example, the number of points of sale in Assen has fallen by 21 percent since 2020, but the vacancy rate is still high at 14 percent. “In most Northern centers, a further reduction in the number of shops seems necessary to keep vacancy levels under control and to keep the city centers vital,” the real estate agents said.
In many cities there is also long-term vacancy. In Hengelo, for example, 65 percent of the vacant buildings were already empty two years ago. The number of shops has fallen by 6 percent since 2020, but the vacancy rate is still high at 15 percent.