Posts Tagged With: Bijenkorf

Appointment required (Or: Line to enter Bijenkorf)

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Niki

This morning I took a photo of the line to enter Bijenkorf, a high-end department store. There weren’t too many people in line yet – it was only 11:00 – but there was a large amount of space roped off on the Grote Markt shopping street.

The not-quite-readable sign says “Welcome! Access only allowed with appointment. Scan the QR-code to make an appointment.” (QR codes have definitely become more popular during the corona crisis.) In the Netherlands you need to make an appointment at least 4 hours in advance. Non-essential stores can have 1 person per 25 square meters, with a maximum of 50 shoppers in the store at one time.

The sculpture is called “Veelhoofd” (Many heads) and it was created by Joep van Lieshout. The art in The Hague’s city centre moves around a lot – the sculpture was initially installed on the Spui (stroom.nl, in English) around the corner back in 2010.

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Bijenkorf holiday windows (Or: 2020 edition)

Posted on December 2, 2020 by Niki

Here are some of the holiday windows Bijenkorf (a high-end retail store) here in The Hague. Bijenkorf is Dutch for beehive.

This one is Sinterklaas themed (you can see the music in backend and his staff in front of the music sheet). The white letters that are almost impossible to see say Muziek dat verbindt – the music that brings us together.
The mannequin was also slowly rotating. The white letters say Feest van samenzijn – Feast of being together (or a similar translation).
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Well, that’s memorable (Or: Wine choices at Bijenkorf)

Posted on November 5, 2020 by Niki

As I wrote about earlier, this year the Christmas department at Bijenkorf extends into what is traditionally the wine department. Perhaps it is for social distancing purposes?

Marco and I couldn’t help but notice this bottle of wine (in the middle):

It is pretty normal to see something like this in the Netherlands. It isn’t nearly as bad a curse word in Dutch as it is in English, although you still wouldn’t want to have your kid saying it.

(Is anyone else tempted to give it a try just to see if it lives up to its name? If I was a wine drinker, that is.)

Did you know that there is a wine brand with the name Slurp! at Albert Heijn? That one always makes me laugh.

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Bijenkorf 2020 Christmas displays (Or: A piece of normal)

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Niki

Marco and I decided to risk it and go to Xenos and Bijenkorf (a high end department store) today. It was probably the first time I stepped foot in Bijenkorf this year. And actually it wasn’t too bad. I thought it it would be really busy, especially on a Sunday afternoon, but Xenos was actually busier.

Bijenkorf had an interesting setup for the escalators: pieces of cardboard taped to the side of the escalator which reminded you to stand on the other side (as far away as possible from the opposite escalator). While they are taped securely to the elevator it was done in such a way that someone standing on the wrong side won’t rip them out. I didn’t take a photo, however.

The good news is that the Christmas section isn’t that busy on November 1st. Who knew?

“At the North Pole” display
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Categories: Holidays | Tags: , | 3 Comments

Anniversary year (Or: 150 years of Bijenkorf)

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Niki

Bijenkorf is a Dutch department store which opened its first store in Amsterdam in 1870. 150 years ago! To celebrate this, they scheduled a year of celebrations in 2020 (thehagueonline.com). For example, there are unique shop windows (Bijenkorf always has beautiful holiday windows), unique merchandise to buy, guided tours, events to attend…

The only problem – which you can see coming with the date of March 10, 2020 in the article from thehagueonline.com – is the corona crisis rearing its ugly head. The carefully scheduled events and tours now read tijdelijk niet beschikbaar or temporarily not available.

In other news:

  • The Dutch corona app will be called CoronaMelder (nltimes.nl) and will use Bluetooth. CoronaMelder translates to Corona Reporter.
  • Kuikentjes bevrijd op de Oude Trambaan from regio15.nl – baby chicks fell through a pedestrian bridge and couldn’t get out on their own. They were ultimately freed by firemen who removed a few of the bridge planks to reach the chicks.
  • The Guardian has a very interesting article called ‘Landscape of fear’: what a mass of rotting reindeer carcasses taught scientists although that topic admittedly isn’t for everyone. But there’s an informative tie-in with the Dutch Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve (where thousands of animals ended up starving due to a lack of predators in the area) and the ultimate changes to the ecosystem which occurred because of the abandoned carcasses. This caused a great amount of controversy in The Netherlands because it was a conscious choice not to feed the animals to help them survive the winter.
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Christmas at Bijenkorf, The Hague (Or: 2019 edition)

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Niki

Last week a colleague and I had some extra time on our hands after work so we decided to check out the Christmas section at Bijenkorf in The Hague. Here are some of the photos I took:

The gingerbread houses look so yummy!
A look at the Christmas tree theme this year
A beautiful (if slightly busy/crowded) table setting
More Christmas items, and ornaments for sale in the background

I always check out the Christmas section at Bijenkorf – they make some wonderful items. They come in different sizes and styles, so there is something for (almost) everyone.

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Christmas lights at the Bijenkorf (Or: 2019)

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Niki

It’s become a tradition – take a picture of the Christmas lights at Bijenkorf (a high-end department store – the name means beehive).

Here is 2019:

This year you have the addition of a digital advertisement board — which caused a bit of controversy when they were installed because of the noise and light pollution they caused. Things seemed to have died down since then, though.

Bijenkorf’s window displays are always a hit with the shopping crowd – each different than the last.

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Christmas at Bijenkorf (Or: 2018 offerings)

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Niki

As usual, Bijenkorf (a local upscale department store) has beautiful Christmas displays.

Here is what the Christmas tree looks like this year:

This year they went with a lot of blue lights, and no ornaments. I like it.

For reference the tree starts around the 2nd floor (1st floor if you’re European) and is about four floors tall.

Lots of teddy bears on sale. His official name is ‘Bobbie’ and he has his own page. You might remember him from a previous blog post I did with the window displays – the group of bears was his family.

Entrance to the Christmas department (which is what Kerst Afdeling translates to).
Christmas tree full of Nijntje ornaments – how cute! In English she goes by Miffy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miffy

Bijenkorf always outdoes themselves with their holiday displays!

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Christmas window displays (Or: Cuteness at Bijenkorf)

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Niki

Check out this cute window display at Bijenkorf in The Hague:

Bijenkorf Christmas window display, The Hague, 2018

The cutest part is definitely the teddy bears trying to open the fridge on the right (this part was motorized, so the fridge door did open and close).

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Bijenkorf in The Hague (Or: Holiday decorations, 2017)

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Niki

I was looking through my photos from last month and realized that I hadn’t posted my photos of Bijenkorf yet!

Christmas lights Bijenkorf, The Hague, 2017

Holiday lights (the same every year, but always pretty!)

Bijenkorf does different window decorations every year. A lot of businesses in The Hague take part in holiday window displays (see the TINK competition).

Christmas window display, Bijenkorf, The Hague (2)

And this one:

Christmas window display, Bijenkorf, The Hague (1)

This year the Christmas tree was rather simple, at least compared to previous years:

Christmas tree, Bijenkorf, The Hague 2017

It was of course as tall as ever – the base started at the top of the ground floor, with the peak reaching to floor 5. As evidenced by the escalators at the left…

Christmas ornaments, Bijenkorf, The Hague, 2017

Check out the Coke and Diet Coke can ornaments in the upper right. I especially like the slightly ‘frosty’ look. Cute!

Categories: Holidays, The Hague | Tags: , | 4 Comments

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