Thursday, January 22, 2015

HEMA, an icon



Voted the most loved brand in the Netherlands the HEMA -an acronym of Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam (literally: Holland's standard prices company of Amsterdam)- is a chain of retail stores that started life as a dime store (comparable to the present-day Poundland). The first store opened in Amsterdam in 1929 in the central shopping street Kalverstraat. It was set up by the owners of the luxury department store De Bijenkorf. The store stocks items for everyday use at relatively low prices that are often designed especially for the brand and are known for their simplicity, clear lines and durability. The HEMA, however, is most famous for its smoked sausages (rookworst), cakes, pigs in a blanket (saucijzenbroodje) and the iconic tompouce (a simple type of mille-feuille with only two layers of puff pastry typically found in Belgium and the Netherlands).



Every time I'm back in Amsterdam, I used to work there many years ago, I have to have a cup of tea with a tompouce (shown in the middle) at the HEMA on the Nieuwendijk.

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