Albert Heijn

Albert Heijn B.V. is the largest Dutch supermarket chain[5], founded in 1887 in Oostzaan, Netherlands. It is named after Albert Heijn, Sr., the founder of the first store in Oostzaan. Today the store has 985 locations in the Netherlands (including 85 Albert Heijn to-go's[6] and 36 Albert Heijn XL[7]). Albert Heijn stores have also been in Belgium since 2011, with around 50 branches in Flanders by mid-2020[8]. In Germany several Albert Heijn to-go's were created between 2012-2018 but have since been closed down since April 1, 2018 due to slow growth[9]. Albert Heijn also operated in Curaçao from 2007-2016, until a change in ownership to Gerald Van Den Tweel who disassociated from the company changing the name to "Van Den Tweel", but chose to continue to sell the inventory of Albert Heijn products.[10]

Albert Heijn
IndustryRetail
FoundedOostzaan, Netherlands (27 May 1887 (1887-05-27))
FounderAlbert Heijn
Headquarters
Zaandam 
,
Netherlands 
Number of locations
Netherlands 959[1][2]
Belgium 42[3] Total:1001.
Area served
Netherlands
Belgium
Key people
Marit van Egmond (CEO)
ProductsSupermarkets, Convenience stores, Small hypermarkets
OwnerAhold Delhaize
Number of employees
100,000[4]
Websitewww.ah.nl/ 
Former Albert Heijn logo (1965–2006)
A large Albert Heijn store in Alkmaar
Albert Heijn To Go supermarket at the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station
An AH.nl delivery truck in Zaandam
Albert Heijn store in Lier, Belgium

History and concept

Albert Heijn is the oldest organization owned and operated by the Dutch supermarket operator Ahold. The founder of the company, Albert Heijn, was born in 1865. The name "Ahold" is short for Albert Heijn Holding. In 1952, Albert Heijn initiated the self-service store. For the first time, the customers were not served one by one but could pick their products by themselves.[11]

The stores are full service markets (as opposed to discounters), known for their focus on quality stores and products. This focus on superior products is part of the reason that Albert Heijn is regarded as one of the more expensive supermarkets in the Netherlands, Belgium, Curaçao and Aruba. However, after a price war initiated by Albert Heijn itself and involving nearly all Dutch supermarket chains from late 2003 until 2006, it became cheaper.[12]

Albert Heijn's market share is currently around 30%. The company's current logo consists of a stylized "ah" in white, surrounded by a blue background. In August 2018, Albert Heijn launched in-store counter for vegan food.[13][14]


It was revealed by various news outlets in November 2019 that the store had asked its employees for pictures of them in their underwear or other tight fitting garments in order to assess uniform sizes. A branch located in the eastern city of Nijmegen was to be used for a pilot program to test a phone app that it would later roll out to all 1,000 stores.[15][16][17]

Key people
  • Albert Heijn (1865–1945), founder
  • His grandson, Albert Heijn (1927–2011), was the founder of Ahold.
  • Albert's brother, Gerrit Jan Heijn (1931–1987), also a top manager at Ahold, was kidnapped and murdered in 1987.
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See also

References
  1. "Albert Heijn winkels in Nederland | online bestellen | AH.nl". www.ah.nl.
  2. "Caraïben - Van Den Tweel Groep". www.vandentweelgroep.nl.
  3. "Albert Heijn". www.ah.be.
  4. "Feiten en cijfers". Nieuws.ah.nl. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  5. "Netherlands: Albert Heijn market share in supermarket retail 2012-2019". Statista. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  6. "Albert Heijn winkels in Nederland | online bestellen | AH.nl". www.ah.nl. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  7. "Albert Heijn winkels in Nederland | online bestellen | AH.nl". www.ah.nl. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. "Albert Heijn". www.ah.be. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  9. "Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn leaves Germany | The Brand Bite". www.thebrandbite.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  10. "Albert Heijn is now Van den Tweel Supermarket". Curaçao Chronicle. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  11. "Critical success factors for the supermarket Albert Heijn: A mixed methods study" (PDF). dare.uva.nl. 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  12. van de Velde, Fleuriëtte (16 January 2008). "Welke supermarkten profiteerden van de prijzenoorlog?". Elsevier.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  13. "Albert Heijn Launches Dedicated Vegan Food-To-Go Counter". ESM Magazine. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  14. "Albert Heijn introduceert eerste vegan koelschap". AD.nl (in Dutch). 21 August 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  15. "Albert Heijn drops uniform app trial after underwear photo outcry". DutchNews.nl. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  16. "Supermarket scraps call for staff underwear photos". 26 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  17. Gastaldo, Evann (26 November 2019). "Supermarket Scraps Very Bad Idea to Gauge Uniform Sizes". Newser. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
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