More Dutch retail chains performing well in Belgian shopping districts
Dutch retailers from HEMA and Rituals to Zeeman and smaller chains such as Dille & Kamille, Pink Gellac, and Sissi-Boy have flooded Belgian shopping streets, turning cities like Antwerp into destinations that feel familiar to Dutch visitors. While the total number of stores in Belgium dropped more than 10 percent between 2020 and 2026, the number of outlets operated by Dutch chains rose more than 10 percent to nearly 2,500, according to data from research firms Locatus and Retailsonar.
In Antwerp, a favorite shopping spot for many Dutch day-trippers, the influx is immediately visible, RTL reports. At the central station, shoppers encounter 2theloo toilets and an Albert Heijn supermarket right outside. On the way to the main shopping street, the Meir, they pass HEMA, Kruidvat, Jumbo, America Today, Wam Denim, and Pink Gellac, with a Pipoos nearby in a side street.
Further along the Meir are Hans Anders, Action, PME Legend, Pearle, Wibra, We Fashion, Cotton Club, Rituals, another HEMA, Van Haren, Kruidvat, Hunkemöller, The Sting, and Costes. Other Antwerp streets feature more than 20 additional Dutch chains, including Floris van Bommel, G-Star Raw, MyJewellery, and De Slegte. Outside the center, stores such as Coolblue, Boekenvoordeel, Kwantum, Swiss Sense, Beter Bed, and Gamma are also present.
Similar patterns appear in Brussels and other cities. Excluding post offices, banks, and gas stations, Kruidvat ranks fourth and Zeeman ninth among chains with the most stores in Belgium. Pearle, Action, Hans Anders, and HEMA each operate well over 100 outlets, according to Locatus data. The majority are in Dutch-speaking Flanders, though Dutch chains are also present in Brussels and French-speaking Wallonia.
Belgium offers Dutch retailers the easiest opportunity for foreign expansion, said Gino van Ossel, a retail professor at Vlerick Business School in Brussels.
"Although there are significant cultural differences, the differences with other countries are even greater," he explained. The shared language in Flanders makes the step simpler, and Belgian operations can be managed effectively from the Netherlands.
Supply logistics also favor the move. "Driving from a distribution center in the Netherlands to Groningen is sometimes farther than to a store in Belgium," Els Breugelmans, retail marketing professor at the University of Leuven, told RTL.
The core driver remains growth. "At a certain point, chains have saturated their home market and have to cross the border," said Jorg Snoeck, retail expert and founder of Retaildetail.
Even online-first Dutch retailers have opened physical stores in Belgium, including My Jewellery, Skins, and Coolblue. Belgian consumers, especially in Flanders, often already know these brands from online shopping.
Treating Belgium as "the Netherlands but a bit different" has led to notable blunders. HEMA once stocked the same bicycle tires and pumps as in the Netherlands, unaware that Belgian valves differ in size, frustrating customers. A kitchen store distributed Dutch-language flyers in Liège, where residents speak French. HEMA failed to account for Belgian holidays and kept stores closed on April 30 — the former Dutch Queen's Day — while opening on May 1, a Belgian public holiday.
