People in the Netherlands are still trying to do Christmas shopping en masse on Monday. Since the leakage of the new measures, it has become much busier in the shopping streets and at hairdressers. Many also try to quickly get a Christmas tree at home before that is no longer possible.
People in the Netherlands are still trying to do Christmas shopping en masse on Monday. Since the leakage of the new measures, it is much busier in the shopping streets and at hairdressers. Many also try to quickly get a Christmas tree at home before that is no longer possible.
Monday it leaked that all non-essential stores should close until mid-January. An employee of Parfumerie Marjo in Amsterdam says that it has been a lot busier in her store since the news was announced. “It’s really extreme,” she says. “Customers say they had no intention of shopping, but are still doing so now to buy Christmas gifts quickly.”
On social media you can see that it is much busier than normal at perfumery and drugstores. Several people post photos of long queues in the shopping street.
Several municipalities warn against the crowds. “The city center of The Hague is too busy. Do your (Christmas) shopping online,” the municipality of The Hague writes on Twitter. The municipality of Leiden calls on only coming to the city center when it is really necessary. “And come alone.”
Similar calls are being made in Utrecht, Eindhoven, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Groningen and Alphen aan de Rijn.
Crowds to see special cards
Special maps of Rotterdam, Utrecht and Hilversum show several places where it is busier than normal. Breda sends residents a WhatsApp message on request to show the crowds.
In many locations, crowds are measured on the basis of sensors that detect, for example, telephone signals or movements. The municipality of Enschede has temporarily stopped this, due to privacy concerns of the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
ANKO: ‘Customers do not want a corona coupe again’
Hairdressers notice that people quickly want to schedule an appointment. “The hairdressers are very busy,” says a spokesperson for the hairdressing trade association ANKO. “They are called flat. On the one hand because customers do not want a corona haircut again – as with the first lockdown – and on the other hand because they want to have their hair cut before Christmas.”
She gives people who still want to make an appointment with the hairdresser little chance. “I think everything is already full.”
Most people already have a Christmas tree at home
Christmas tree vendors do not see the enormous crowds, says grower Gert Hulscher. “But the people who are there now say to me that they are coming now because they are afraid that it will not be allowed after today. They do not take any chances and do not wait until tomorrow.”
He thinks it is still relatively quiet, because most people already have a tree in their house. “I was actually already sold out last Saturday. I got some extra trees from a grower, but the real peak is already behind us.” That’s what Gerard Krol, chairman of the Dutch Christmas Tree Growers Association says. “I think 95 percent of the Christmas trees have already been sold. There are only a few trees left.”