Action, Big Bazar, Prijsmepper, Nettorama, Xenos, Op=Op. The huge growth of discount shops in the Netherlands is leading to a battle for leftover stock. Does the fall of Drenthe discount drugstore Op=Op Voordeelshop mark a turnaround in the discount sector?

Champagne must have been popping at Op=Op's headquarters in Peize. In July 2017, the Drenthe discount retailer will take over 31 shops from Blokker. It is an important step towards national coverage.

The acquisition underlines the huge growth of the retailer of A-brand personal care and household products. The first shop opens in Klazienaveen in 1997. Twenty years later, with the acquisition of the Blokker shops, Op=Op is approaching the number of 160 shops, including a dozen franchise stores. The ambition is to grow to 300.

It does not succeed. More than two years after the acquisition of the Blokker shops, the curtain falls. A financially unstable situation combined with rapid growth and challenging market conditions, reads the official explanation for the bankruptcy last week.

What may have played a role, according to Lawerman, is that Op=Op has had to buy differently due to growth. The bigger the chain, the more the purchasing changes. ,,As long as you are smaller than 100 shops, you can buy smaller batches of a few thousand items. If you get above 100 shops, you can no longer do that. Then you have to buy large batches at once. That will also have affected Op=Op. It just makes the shop less attractive because the range cannot be changed as much.''

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