Hema (store)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hema (originally an acronym for Hollandse Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam, translated meaning Standard Pricing Company Amsterdam) is a Dutch department store chain. It is part of the Maxeda company. The chain is characterized by relative low pricing of generic housewares, that are mostly made by and for the chain itself.
The first Hema opened in Amsterdam on November 4th, 1926. Originally, as a price-point retailer, goods were sold using standard prices (hence its name), with everything costing 25 or 50 cents, and later on also 75 and 100 cents. However, after World War II, this model could not be sustained and the standard pricing system was abandoned. But a period of rapid expansion followed: now almost every town of any importance has a Hema in the Netherlands. Locations carry a wide variety of goods, including clothing, food, bicycle equipment, gardening tools, and office supplies.
Since the 1990s, Hema has expanded also in Belgium and Germany.
