Leading retail chains in the Netherlands 2021, by number of stores

Etos, HEMA, Albert Heijn? and Kruidvat are all household names in the Netherlands, and it will be nearly impossible to find someone in the country who has never shopped at any of these retail chains. For personal care products you have Etos and Kruidvat, for groceries you go to Albert Heijn and HEMA has everything else your heart might desire. But which of these retailers is really the largest retail chain? Based on the number of stores, it can only be Kruidvat, which operated approximately 970 stores in the Netherlands in 2021.

Leading drugstores

As the largest retail chain in the Netherlands, Kruidvat also tops the ranking of drugstore chains in the country. There is a considerable gap between Kruidvat and its closest competitors: numbers two, three and four combined have just a few stores more than Kruidvat on its own. Etos, which ranked second, operated approximately 540 stores in 2020, whereas DA ranked third on the list of leading drugstores in the country with nearly 300 stores.

Kruidvat also market leader in Belgium

With close to 270 stores, Kruidvat was also the leading drugstore chain in the neighboring country of Belgium in 2020. However, that was not nearly enough to also top the ranking of leading retail chains in Belgium, though: discount supermarket chain Aldi had nearly 440 stores in Belgium that year.