Supermarkets jam packed for Christmas Eve

Today, the day before Christmas, is the busiest day of the year for supermarkets. Distribution centers have been working through the night to make sure all the supermarkets are supplied. Many supermarkets opened an hour earlier this morning. Several supermarkets will also be open tomorrow, more than ever before. This applies to both cities and small towns. According to Miranda Boer of the Central Bureau of Food Retail (CBL), the trade association of super markets, there won't be many shops open, but a trend is emerging. "When you consider that there are 4,300 supermarkets of which about 200 will be open, it is still not many." said Boer. "Yet we see a development: where supermarkets used to be closed during Christmas, it has now become common to be open on Boxing day, and now also on Christmas Day." CBL expects this year's Christmas turnover to be 760 million euros. That would be 1 percent more than last year. The restaurants also do not have much to complain about this year. Many businesses are fully booked for Christmas. According to Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, the Christmas days fell at a good time as Thursday and Friday are nice days to visit a restaurant. The restaurants also benefit from the fact that more Dutch people are spending the holidays in their own country.