“Klazenavian, you have to go there,” the lady smiled widely at the jumbo in the heart of Klazenavian. She couldn't have summed it up more succinctly. The village shopping center with a capacity of over 12,000 is known and loved by shoppers inside and outside Drenthe Village. What is the secret of the so-called shopping marvel?
If you read a story about the village middle classes in the media, you can already guess the content in advance. It's usually a story about disappearing shops. But not in clazenavin. “You have all the stores you need here,” two older ladies said. “It's very interesting here. It's a real attraction. You don't really have to go to Emmen.”
Two other ladies came to Klazienaveen from Gramsbergen. “You have a nice variety of shops here.”
“And you can eat well here,” her friend adds. The fact that you can park your car practically in front of the front doors of retailers is also a huge advantage, as you can be heard left and right.
All this appreciation is reflected in the large number of visitors. One who is certainly not bothered by this “busyness” is the president of the Klazenavien trade association Dick Voorthuis (Havika, about 140 members). “Busy is only a good sign,” he laughs. Because this means that Klazienaveen Shopping Center is very popular among shoppers.
According to Forthuis, there are several things that contribute to the “magic formula” of clazenavin. “First of all, the center is highly regarded (and visited by) its residents. The center is evaluated every ten years, and this always results in a good score.”
Moreover, Klazenavners are social people, Forthuis says in a marketing tone. “People talk to each other, greet each other. Ask a stranger what they like about Klazenavians, and it's often kindness.”
Two other points are the shopping mix and free parking. “There aren't a lot of national chains here. Of course we're happy to have Blokker and Etos. But that alone doesn't attract people. Because they're everywhere. It's those nice specialty stores that people come to. That uniqueness and fortunately we have a lot of that.”
Free parking in the central area is practically sacrosanct for Forthuis. With the exception of Emmen, payment is not required anywhere in the municipality. Forthuis says it has to stay that way. The project began in the village more than ten years ago and did not achieve much success. Very bad.
Forthuis: “You could hear the birds chirping in our streets. The customers who came were standing nervously in the store. They wanted to get out as quickly as possible for fear of being fined. The atmosphere was gone.”
Fortunately for entrepreneurs, so did parking meters. If Forthuis gets his way, they won't come back either. “We are strongly against that.”
Regarding the vacant position, Klazenavians are in good shape. According to Forthuis, there are only a small number of empty retail counters. “Most properties are owned by individuals. If something is vacant, they often reduce the rent.” Then the lot fills up again quickly, so there is hardly any vacancy, Forthuis laughs.
The transcript continues below the video
