Dutch value retailer Hema to open its first UK stores

Hema, the dutch value retailer, has signed leases for its first UK

stores in the Southeast of England.

The retailer is set to open two stores this summer, one in Kingston and one in London. The first store will be in a 4,300 square foot building, which used to be a French Connection store and the other in Victoria Place in Victoria Station, reported Retail Week.

The two stores will be the first of ten to be opened in the London area, before Hema rolls out further stores across the rest of the country. Hema is set to compete against local value retailers in the UK such as B&M Bargains and Poundland.

Hema, which sells a wide variety of products including fashion, beauty, home, stationary, food and drink, currently operates over 600 hundred stores in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. In January Hema's CEO Ronald van Zetten revealed plans to expand to Spain and the UK.

"England is a very different market. Opening a store there is more of a gamble," said van Zetten during a previous interview earlier this year. After extensive customer research, Van Zetten has come to the conclusion that there is an opening in the British market for Hema. "Only by opening a store there will we know."