No direct competition
Chairman of the board Gerard van Breen considers France as an ideal market as there are no chains like Kruidvat there. “The customer is not used to a store like ours and we have to lure them away from the so-called hypermarkets and para-pharmacies, which are like apothecaries”, he told Dutch paper De Telegraaf.
The chain does have French-speaking experience as it already has 34 stores in the French-speaking part of Belgium, Wallonia. It wants to use its obtained knowledge from that market to succeed in France. On top of that, it has also asked the French consumer what it felt about its stores in Wallonia.
It definitely will not alter its Kruidvat name for the French market. “If people understand your formula, then its name will not form an obstacle”, van Breen said.
