Book and gift shop Relay will open seven stores at major NS stations from the beginning of November. The competitor of AKO and Bruna, among others, is owned by the French Lagardère Travel Retail.
It has not been possible to buy a book or magazine at Rotterdam Central Station for a few months now. The Bruna shop is closed. This also applies to six other locations at stations. However, according to an NS spokesperson, travelers do not have to worry for long about a lack of reading material. The Relay formula opens its first stores in our country not only in Rotterdam, but also in The Hague, Amsterdam, Delft and Breda. It concerns two branches in Rotterdam and two in Amsterdam. In the other cities, one store will open its doors. Breda has the scoop at the beginning of November, the rest will follow in the following weeks.
“It is true that several Bruna’s have been closed in recent months. Contracts expired and Relay has won the new contract for seven stores. The range largely corresponds to what Bruna sold. So you are mainly talking about books, newspapers, magazines, snacks and gift items,” said the NS spokesperson.
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It is not the first time that parent company Lagardère Travel Retail has turned its attention to Dutch train stations. The French also own Smullers, the snack chain that has 28 branches at stations. The company is also active at Schiphol with several fashion stores.
Subsidiary Relay has a thousand stores in fourteen countries and can therefore be found in our country for the first time from November. In addition to reading material, the chain also invests heavily in the sale of gifts and has the ambition to open shops at Dutch airports and other NS stations in due course.
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