Dutch retailer Dille & Kamille has opened its first physical store in Germany today, in shopping centre Opern Passagen in Cologne.
Delayed, not cancelled
The retailer was already selling its home, garden and kitchen items online in Germany, but felt the need to also open a physical store in the country as “some existing stores got half of their turnover from Germans”, general manager Hans Geels said in a press release. The choice fell on Cologne, a city of 1.1 million inhabitants (ten million in the metro area) close to the Dutch and Belgian border.
The chain was founded in 1974 and has since expanded to 26 Dutch and 12 Belgian stores. It had hoped to open its first German store last year, but the Covid pandemic delayed those plans. More elaborate expansion plans, including France, have been shelved as the chain now wants to focus more on its core markets.
