Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Koot lamp shop on Raadhuisstraat in Amsterdam
Koot lamp shop on Raadhuisstraat in Amsterdam - Credit: Photo: Jessica C. / Yelp
Business
Amsterdam
Koot
Raadhuisstraat
Nico Dekker
Friday, 10 February 2017 - 11:25
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Lights out at Amsterdam lamp shop after 120 years in business

Amsterdam lamp store Koot is closing shop after 120 years of business in the Dutch capital. At the end of next week the store on the corner of Keizersgracht and Raadhuisstraat is closing its doors, the Telegraaf reports.

The store was an institution in Amsterdam for decades and was known as a trend setter in the field of lighting. That can partly be attributed to its location - anyone entering Amsterdam via the Rozengracht could not help but notice the striking facade of the store, according to the newspaper.

In the 80's and 90's lamp makers fought for a showcase in the Amsterdam store. "If you had a light in our window, you drew the attention of lamp stores throughout the Netherlands, so the demand increased considerably afterwards", Nico Dekker, one of the two owners, said to the newspaper. "One manufacturer after another claimed a prominent place. Sometimes the lights weren't even pretty."

The name Koot was in Amsterdam for over 120 years. "In 1895 my maternal grandfather started with an installation company in Spuitstraat", Dekker said. "My father and mother met there. And in the 70's they started a shop in Wolvenstraat: Koot Spotlights. In 1980 I bought the business from my parents and we moved to this prominent place on Raadhuisstraat in 1983."

In its heyday Koot had branches in Utrecht, The Hague and Haarlem. But over the past years, the internet has increasingly become a competitor. "We are increasingly an information desk for online shopping. People come here to look at lamps and then order them elsewhere online. One consequence is that we sell more accessories than ever. But that's not what we want. It makes it less fun. And I'm 56 now, I can still do something else."

The name Koot may not die completely. Employee Stefano van Leeuwaarde will try to continue the shop online from May, according to the Telegraaf.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Twente and AZ drop vital points in the title race
  • Train collides with trailer at level crossing in Lunteren
  • Feyenoord and PSV draw 2-2 in Rotterdam
  • 33-year-old woman dead and two seriously injured after stabbing in Delft
  • Trade union warns of strike storm; Bijenkorf and regional transport employees will stop working next week
  • Manager Heitinga leads Ajax to a comfortable victory in his second game

Top stories

  • Police arrest suspect for fatal fire in Arnhem
  • Aruba prosecutor: New evidence in Natalee Holloway case is fake; American T.V. host was tricked
  • Possible passenger ceiling at Schiphol again due to staff shortage, travel agency angry
  • Hoekstra wants to reintroduce conscription
  • EU countries agree on new price cap for Russian oil
  • Hermitage shows Rembrandt and contemporaries from The Leiden Collection

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content