Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Chocolate Sinterklaas
Chocolate Sinterklaas - Credit: Photo: twixx / DepositPhotos - License: DepositPhotos
Business
Sinterklaas
Zwarte Piet
blackface
Intertoys
Jase & Joy
Detailhandel Nederland
Miriam de Bruin
Euretco
Laetitia Gruwel
Tuesday, 19 November 2019 - 09:30
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Toy stores increasingly avoid Zwarte Piet in holiday decorations

The largest toy store chains in the Netherlands largely prefer to avoid the debate around the appearance of blackface Sinterklaas character Zwarte Piet by not having the character in their stores, NU.nl reports after speaking to the toy stores.

Intertoys, the largest toy chain in the Netherlands with over 200 branches, removed Piet in whatever form completely from decorations in Intertoys stores. The chain thus avoids uncomfortable situations, a spokesperson said to the newspaper.

Another large toy chain, which asked not to be mentioned by name, tries to avoid the use of whatever kind of Piet in the store as much as possible. The chain wants to avoid the Zwarte Piet discussion, an employee said. 

Jase & Joy hopes to bypass the discussion by dressing up the two figures from its logo, the children Jase and Joy. One child wears a miter the other a Piet cap. "They do what children do, they dress up. That's how we stay away from the discussion of Chimney Pieten or Zware Pieten", Miriam de Bruin of Euretco, parent company of Jase & Joy, said to the newspaper. 

Sector organization Detailhandel Nederland also noticed the increasing disappearance of Zwarte Piet in the Dutch shopping streets. "We are seeing that a change is slowly taking place", spokesperson Laetitia Gruwel said to NU.nl. The Sinterklaas celebration is perhaps the most important period of the year for shops, with sales always skyrocketing as people shop for gifts. "And then you don't want controversy", Gruwel said.

Detailhandel Nederland also noticed a difference in the use of Zwarte Piet between the Randstad and more rural areas. The role of Piet within the Sinterklaas party is particularly changing in the Randstad. "Zwarte Piet is not yet gone in smaller cities outside the Randstad", Gruwel said. 

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Dutch inflation down to 9.9 percent in June
  • Facebook completely withdraws plan for controversial data center
  • Man, 35, arrested in Lelystad girl's Amber Alert case
  • Cabinet too slow in compensating parents hurt by child benefits scandal, says ombudsman
  • Many new rules in effect from July 1 in the Netherlands
  • Cabinet ignoring Safety Board's Covid-advice, chairman says

Top stories

  • Cabinet wants to ban protests in front of politicians’ homes after farmers incidents
  • Schools will remain open even during a severe Covid outbreak
  • Abolition of slavery commemorated in Amsterdam; Many companies give a day off
  • Girl named in Amber Alert found safe, police say
  • Police far more likely to bust up climate protests than farmer protests, lawyer claims
  • MP's want to lower healthcare deductible, Cabinet wants to freeze it

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content