Saturday was never more crowded than usual at Albert Heijn and Jumbo stores, spokesmen for NU.nl said when asked. Branches of supermarket chains close during the period when the curfew is in effect at 8.45 pm.
The curfew comes into effect for the first time on Saturday evening at 9 pm. Supermarkets are required to close 15 minutes early, so customers have time to return home.
SPAR advises entrepreneurs whose standard closing time is after 9 pm to close their doors at 8:30 pm, a spokesperson said. The COOP stores will then be closed anyway, so there’s no need to change the closing time.
For Albert Heijn, the curfew is the biggest adjustment, as many stores are open until 10pm. This also applies to huge supermarkets, albeit to a lesser extent. Online grocery delivery continues as usual, even after 9pm.
“There are no additional crowds just before the curfew,” a Jumbo spokesman said. In mid-December, when the tighter lockdown was announced, supermarkets were still busy. Central Bureau of Food Trade (CBL) branch association said at the time in a conversation with RTL News There was no reason to suddenly start storage.
