If shopping is your thing, there are plenty of shops to be found in the Netherlands. Most cities have a shopping street and at least one major market area. There are three shops in the Netherlands that are particularly Dutch, not for any cultural reasons, but because you can find them just about everywhere. Since shopping isn’t really my thing, I find it useful to know these three stores, where I can (usually) get in and out quickly and spend the least amount of time hunting around.

Albert Heijn

The grocery store Albert Heijn is more prevalent in the northern parts of the Netherlands, and in the major cities there seems to be one on just about every corner. They are easy to spot by the glowing blue AH sign. If you were a visitor, you might see them so often you would think those signs are for the metro or something, but nope, that’s just good ol’ Albert Heijn.

Albert Heijn is notoriously one of the more expensive grocery stores, but what they do have is selection and location. My house is equidistant between two Albert Heijns, and just slightly farther from a third. Of course I do my shopping there. I think this is how they manage to keep a consistent clientele, since no one can really compete with the store that’s on every corner.

Unless you go to an Albert Heijn XL, the stores are a lot smaller than I was accustomed to as an American. Much much smaller. The selection varies by store because they cater to the neighborhood they are in. So, the Albert Heijns around my house have a smaller selection of vegetarian food and cheese, but a large selection of meat and veggies, while the Albert Heijn in the artsy-fartsy neighborhood has tons of vegetarian options and quality cheeses, and the Albert Heijn in the center of town carries tons of munchy foods for tourists. They are smart like that.

One of my favorite things about Albert Heijn are the hamsteren commercials. Every once and awhile the store has a sale called hamster weken, which means literally hamstering, but likens best to squirreling away. Running with the theme, Albert Heijn has come up with some of the greatest commercials with hamsters announcing the sales. It’s really cute and really funny.

Hema

Hema is best compared to the American store Target, but a lot smaller and with a much smaller selection of clothing. It’s actually a really old Dutch company, and people here seem to have some sort of emotional attachment to it. I like Hema. They have nice stuff and it’s not that expensive. If I need socks, I go to Hema. If I need a present for someone, I go to Hema. If I need bicycle lights, I definitely go to Hema. It’s basically a department store, but it’s not that big.

Blokker

I’m not really sure what to compare Blokker to, it’s kind of another department store. I’d sort of compare it to Wal-Mart, but that might be offensive, and it’s not completely like Wal-Mart either. It’s sort of like a cheaper version of Hema, meets a dollar store…They buy seasonal house decoration items in bulk, what you see is what you get, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. They are usually pretty inexpensive, but carry some decent cookware. I’m at a loss how to describe it exactly, but it’s a useful store.