By Eva Schouten & Noémi van de Pol
Jan 22, 2024 at 5:06 am
For years, tobacco shops disappeared from the streets, but that trend has come to a standstill. Since last year, the number of cases has increased again for the first time in more than ten years.
This has everything to do with the fact that supermarkets are no longer allowed to sell tobacco as of July 1. The new businesses can often be found a stone’s throw from the supermarket.
Opinions differ on exactly how many tobacco shops there are in the Netherlands, although the increase in shops is beyond dispute. Trade organization NSO Retail puts it at around 1,600. “In the past there were many times more,” says director Janwillem Burgering. That decline will come to a standstill in 2023. “On balance, several dozen have now been added.”
These are mainly stores under the name Tabac & Gifts. “We are growing fast,” says Desmond Terlien of the association of tobacco and convenience stores. While this formula still had 24 stores 3.5 years ago, now there are almost a hundred. “These are not all new locations,” says Terlien. There are also switchers who previously sold tobacco under a different name.
Locations close to supermarkets are popular
But now that it is almost forbidden to sell tobacco in supermarkets, more and more entrepreneurs are also registering to open a new store. Albert Heijn’s own stores stopped selling cigarettes and rolling tobacco on January 1. “There are certainly entrepreneurs who think they can earn a living by selling tobacco. And they are looking for locations near supermarkets. That’s where the largest volume is.”
Terlien expects a strong increase in the number of new points of sale until July 1. “After that the cards will have been shuffled.” He thinks that about 250 new points of sale will be added. “There will be fewer than anticipated,” says Burgering of trade organization NSO. “When the supermarket ban was announced, it was said that this would lead to five hundred new points of sale, but I really don’t see that happening.”
The ban on the sale of tobacco in supermarkets means that more than six thousand sales locations for cigarettes and rolling tobacco will disappear. Tobacco is also sold at thousands of gas stations, which is allowed until 2030. From 2032 it will only be sold in real tobacco specialty stores, so no longer in so-called convenience stores such as Primera and Bruna.
Image: NU.nl
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Tobacco and smokingAlbert HeijnEconomy
2024-01-22 04:06:14
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