Getir to close 5 dark stores in Amsterdam, while pulling out from 6 Dutch cities

Rapid delivery service Getir is set to close five dark stores in Amsterdam due to zoning disputes, Het Parool reported on Wednesday. In Breda, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Leiden, and Tilburg, the Turkish-origin company will cease operations.

Getir aims to move past “ongoing discussion” with the municipality of Amsterdam concerning zoning plans for its distribution centers. “With the closure of these stores, the future is secured,” the company said.

These closures are part of a global reorganization to make the company more efficient. Getir will lay off about 2,00 employees, representing over 10 percent of its workforce, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Whether this concerns employees in the Netherlands remains unknown.

Lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic propelled flash delivery companies like Getir to rapid growth. However, they never managed to become profitable. High inflation coupled with investor wariness due to rising interest rates have pushed these companies to reorganize their operations.

In Amsterdam, Getir faced zoning disputes for its distribution centers, the so-called “dark stores.” The city has been grappling with the establishment of dark stores for over a year and a half. Citing nuisances for residents due to courier deliveries and collections, Amsterdam halted in January 2022 the opening of new rapid delivery services or dark stores for a year. Several dark stores in residential zones were also ordered to close as they did not fit into the zoning plans.

In May 2023, it was announced that rapid delivery services in Amsterdam would only be allowed to establish themselves in business parks and no longer in residential areas.

On Wednesday, Getir confirmed that four of its five stores are set to close due to this new zoning rule. These locations are on Karperstraat, Baarsjesweg, Overtoom, and Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat. The warehouse on Jan Rebelstraat will also close. Discussions regarding the closure timeline will start soon between Getir and the city districts.

However, Getir remains optimistic about its operations in Amsterdam, citing over a million orders already placed in the city. With 15 dark stores still operational across the city, the company intends to keep serving its customers in Amsterdam.

The company announced that operations in Breda, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Leiden, and Tilburg will stop due to limited order volumes. Other Dutch cities where Getir will continue to operate are Amstelveen, The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht.