More than eight years after the V&D stores closed, nearly all of the locations have found a new purpose. More than 3,000 apartments are planned or built on the sites of well-known commercial buildings. Clothing chains and “all you can eat” restaurants are also popular new users. Only the future of the building in Den Bosch remains unclear.
This is evidenced by the inventory conducted by RTL Z in cooperation with Vastgoedjournaal.
Department store chain V&D was a household name to many people, until it was declared bankrupt in 2016. In many locations, the closure of department stores was a huge blow to city centres, which were already struggling due to the growth of online shopping.
But the decline in demand for retail space coincided with the increasing need for housing. This has turned out to be the salvation for many former V&D shops.
Topping up
One of the last V&D buildings to permanently change its function is the one in Maastricht. Only this week, more than eight years after the bankruptcy, the building's renovation will begin, according to the owner, the municipality and the builder.
As of 2019, there was still a branch on Hudson's Bay in the historic location in central Maastricht, but this chain also no longer finds department store shopping profitable. The building has remained empty since then. By building two floors above the building, there will be space for 50 apartments. After the renovation, the ground floors will be used for Zara and Starbucks.
Shrinking retail space in favor of apartments is a formula that is working in more locations. As in Horn, where there is a perfume factory on the ground floor and the upper floors have been converted into 30 apartments. Or in Alkmaar, where there will be a supermarket on the ground floor and about 100 apartments in the rest of the building.
The demise of V&D
For this purpose, a large courtyard will be created in the center of the building to allow light to pass into the new homes, a process that was also recently implemented in Groningen. Apartments have also replaced the upper floors of V&D in Sittard, Assen, Den Helder, Haarlem and others.
According to Philip Hundlink, author of a book on the history of V&D, large sites in city centers were part of the success, but they were also the beginning of V&D's downfall.
“City centers became less accessible by car, so new large chains such as hardware stores increasingly moved to the outskirts of town. So you no longer bought a drill at V&D, when wide range was the strength of supermarkets.”
A car showroom instead of a department store
Some sites, such as Amsterdam Noord, Hilversum, Tilburg and Oosterhout, are still dedicated entirely to shopping, but are often divided into multiple units because there is no longer demand for the large rooftops that V&D needed.
The newer chains you'll often see in former V&D buildings are Zara (including Rotterdam, Maastricht), H&M (Doetinchem, Hellevoetsluis) and brands that fall under The Sting (Enschede) such as Costes (Amersfoort, Apeldoorn) and De KOOPman (Breda, Utrecht) .
Over the years, a host of new specialty stores have found a place in older stores. For example, the flagship location on Kalverstraat in Amsterdam is now being used as a showroom by Chinese car manufacturer Zeekr. Part of the former V&D in Meppel was used as a cinema, and the primary fitness gym is located in the former V&D building in Purmerend.
According to author Hondelink, V&D carefully thought about the buildings in which it opened a store. “V&D’s motto was: ‘What gets built, gets built well.’ They had to be good-looking buildings, but not too luxurious so as not to look expensive.”
Not all 64 buildings are still standing. The old Vroom&Dreesmann building has now been demolished or is about to be demolished in at least 14 places.
The old V&D buildings were demolished
The sites in Roermond, Zwolle and Zeest, among others, will make way for large apartment complexes with shops on the ground floor. This is also happening with the Harlem Schalkwyk branch, where the old building will soon be demolished to make way for a residential tower with at least 406 apartments and a new library branch.
To date, a total of 3,196 apartments have been constructed or are under construction on existing V&D sites. This number is likely to rise even further, because part of the old V&D project in Eindhoven has been demolished to make way for a residential tower. It is not yet clear how many additional apartments will be built there.
Another V&D location whose future remains unclear is the beautiful former branch in the center of Den Bosch. According to owner Jos van de Mortel (Metroprop), there is interest, but potential tenants such as retail chains or catering establishments no longer have the financial capacity to sign a lease due to the fallout from the pandemic.
Van de Mortel says offers from local developers have halved since interest rates rose. “We are also unable to calculate the number of apartments on this site. Then you have to take a bite out of the interior to let light through, and that is no longer really possible under the municipal rules of 30 percent social and 40 percent average rent.”
This was possible in places like Groningen or Alkmaar, because they started early and were able to obtain financing at a lower interest rate.
