Popular A'dam market in trouble after company that sets up stalls goes bankrupt

The popular Albert Cuyp market is facing some trouble after the company that set up and dismantled its stalls went bankrupt a few weeks ago. The municipality quickly found a new stall setter, but they charge so much more that vendors can’t afford to keep their stalls open, AT5 reports.

Martin Colmans has had a furniture store on Albert Cuyp for 30 years, but he may have to close up shop, he told the broadcaster. The new stall setter charges 21.17 euros per stall per day, compared to the bankrupt company’s 16 euros. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I can’t afford this,” Colmans said. He had plans for his son to take over the business. “But that’s impossible like this. I could cry.”

Another market trader, Joke, is also dismayed by the suddenly much higher costs. “We only received the message on Wednesday that prices would rise so much, and we had to pay on Monday,” she said.

According to Colemans, the new stall setter doesn’t even have a permit yet. He, therefore, decided to pay the old amount and launched a petition calling on other vendors to do the same. “The municipality must abide by the rules, just as we must,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

The municipality of Amsterdam told AT5 that its focus was finding a new stall setter quickly so that the market could continue as usual. “Because continuing the market was a priority for us, the formal processing of the permit will follow. We expect to issue the permit in mid-May.”

The municipality said it consulted the market and vendor representatives along the way. “The new stall setter asks a few euros more per day than the stall setter who went bankrupt. That is a private matter between entrepreneurs,” the municipality said. “We understand that entrepreneurs are now confronted with an increase in costs. That is annoying. But in this tight market, with bot a shortage of equipment and personnel, this provider made the most favorable offer.”