Author Archives: Ruben
Why the kitchen today is above all a reflection of real life
April 30, 2026
The perfect kitchen does not exist. That may well be the most reassuring conclusion from the new IKEA Cooking & Eating Report 2026. Not the gleaming showroom kitchen, not the Instagram-worthy marble countertop; today’s real kitchen is smaller, messier, and above all more human than interior magazines and kitchen retailers have led us to believe […]
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HEMA, 100 years the “Dutch Fixed Price Company Amsterdam”
February 17, 2026
When Europe was still recovering from the wounds of the First World War in 1926, and many nations left in ruins in 1918 were investing time and energy into rebuilding, the very first HEMA opened its doors in Amsterdam. At the time, it was still called H.E.M.A., an acronym for Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam (Dutch Fixed Price […]
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Albert Heijn Gelderlandplein: The System Works Because of the People
February 6, 2026
Albert Heijn XL Gelderlandplein: How Scale, Technology, and Local Craft Converge The Albert Heijn XL at the Gelderlandplein shopping center in Amsterdam demonstrates how a modern supermarket operates as a tightly organized system of logistics, data, assortment management, and customer steering. With annual revenue of approximately 70 million euros and around 400 employees, this location […]
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Europe Is Losing the High Street, the Driveway, and Soon Its Strategic Voice
February 4, 2026
Europe looks at the world as if the rules of the game were still the same as twenty years ago. Yet while we debate, regulate, and hesitate, China executes a strategy that spans generations and reshapes our retail sector, our industry, our logistics, and ultimately our geopolitical room for maneuver. In Europe and the United […]
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Düsseldorf as a Laboratory for the Future of Retail
February 2, 2026
Düsseldorf has been a benchmark for those who take retail seriously for years. The city combines strong retail formats with a high density of innovation and increasingly serves as a testing ground for new concepts. During a two-day retail tour, Düsseldorf therefore takes center stage as a living laboratory for the future of the sector. […]
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Column: “The New Retail Strategy: Think Like a Brand, Act Like a Publisher”
January 24, 2026
Wie vandaag wil overleven, moet méér zijn dan een retailer. Je moet denken als een merk, handelen als een retailer én werken als een uitgever. Klinkt ingewikkeld? Geen zorgen, ik leg het je stap voor stap uit.
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