The situation was extra dire for Henny and Piet Bierens-de Wit. First of all, because they wanted to celebrate an anniversary just now. “We didn’t want to stop at 44 years old. But it was also painful because I had registered properly through the permit system. I was ready early,” Henny tells RTL Z.
Eindhoven works on a ‘first come, first served’ principle when granting permits. “When you could request it, I was the first and received the message ‘congratulations’. Three weeks later I received a call that there were technical problems. There were double bookings and we were out of luck.”
Different place
Ultimately, the municipality came up with a solution. They may remain at the shopping center during the current winter season. But in a different place. No longer right next to the supermarket, because from now on there will be a competitor there. They are further away now.
It’s half past six in the evening. The oliebollen with currants that were baked for that day are already gone this Wednesday evening. Every few minutes customers come and order something, until Piet closes the stall around a quarter to six. The shelves are almost empty, he hardly has to throw anything away.
“Our regular customers know where to find us. But people who occasionally buy oliebollen don’t see us when they come out of the supermarket. And we haven’t seen the oliebollen baker who is now in our old spot all winter. He is once. Then there were problems with a power cable that was not allowed to run across the floor and he left again,” says Henny.
Revenue
So she cannot yet judge whether two oliebollen bakers are too many for one shopping center. “The last two weeks of the year are extremely important for your turnover. We will only know in January whether turnover will remain the same.”
She has nothing good to say about the new European rules. “It is an unwritten rule among stall holders that you stay away from a permanent stall stand. I have not registered at other places in the city where someone is already standing. Newcomers are quite welcome, but put them in a place where no one is yet standing. She says with anger in her voice.
Do not stop
They must try again next year to be the first to register for the next winter season. Piet (64) is almost ready to retire. “But I don’t want that. I want to continue for years to come. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll die in armor while baking oliebollen.”
Moreover, the intention is for his son to take over the business. “They should just give us a permit for several years or an indefinite period. As it has always been. My father-in-law already sold oliebollen here.”
2023-12-16 07:35:20
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