Listen | First Albert Heijn shop
On the corner of Kerkbuurt and Kerstraat in Oostzaan lies the origin of the Albert Heijn supermarket chain.
It all started on 27 May 1887, when 21-year-old Albert Heijn took over his father's small grocery shop in Oostzaan. In the shop of just 12 square metres, he sold a variety of groceries. He soon expanded his range by roasting his own coffee and peanuts in the washroom behind the shop, followed by home-baked biscuits.
Eight years after it was founded, Albert Heijn opened its first branch in Purmerend. Rapid growth followed. By 1899, Albert Heijn already had ten branches in North Holland, all of which were supplied from Oostzaan. To improve the supply chain, Albert opened a central warehouse on the Westzijde in Zaandam that same year. Thanks to these developments, the product range had already expanded to 300 items by 1900 – a considerable selection for that time.
In 1910, the...
It all started on 27 May 1887, when 21-year-old Albert Heijn took over his father's small grocery shop in Oostzaan. In the shop of just 12 square metres, he sold a variety of groceries. He soon expanded his range by roasting his own coffee and peanuts in the washroom behind the shop, followed by home-baked biscuits.
Eight years after it was founded, Albert Heijn opened its first branch in Purmerend. Rapid growth followed. By 1899, Albert Heijn already had ten branches in North Holland, all of which were supplied from Oostzaan. To improve the supply chain, Albert opened a central warehouse on the Westzijde in Zaandam that same year. Thanks to these developments, the product range had already expanded to 300 items by 1900 – a considerable selection for that time.
In 1910, Albert Heijn launched the first products under its own name, such as chocolate, buttermilk soap and blue for laundry; these were the forerunners of the Albert Heijn Huismerk. This marked the beginning of its own food production, which led to the construction of a factory on the Oostzijde in 1911. This is how the Albert Heijn concern expanded from a small shop in Oostzaan to a successful supermarket chain in the Netherlands and Belgium.
