Over 300 Dutch villages have lost their local supermarket since 2012

More than 16 percent of supermarkets in towns with up to 10.000 residents have closed across the Netherlands since 2012. Figures from research agency Locatus reveal that 303 locations have lost their local grocery shop, as shifting consumer habits and rising overheads hit smaller businesses hard.

Rapid decline in rural grocery shops

Small communities have seen the biggest drop. Over the past 14 years, the number of supermarkets in villages with fewer than 2.500 residents plummeted by 36 percent. In areas with under 1.500 residents, the numbers have dropped by almost half, leaving thousands of rural residents without a local grocery shop within walking distance.

The decline extends beyond small villages as well. Towns and municipalities with up to 20.000 residents saw supermarket numbers fall by nearly 10 percent. In these communities, local grocers are losing out to larger, cheaper discounters in neighbouring regional hubs, according to RTL Nieuws.

In contrast, cities with over 50.000 residents recorded an overall increase in supermarket numbers over the same timeframe. This urban expansion was driven by express city concepts such as AH to go and Jumbo City, alongside stores run by entrepreneurs with Polish, Turkish, or Arab backgrounds. However, even city growth has plateaued recently as online grocery delivery accounts for 6 to 7 percent of sales in the Netherlands.

The double blow to Dutch supermarkets

Changing shopping habits in the Netherlands are central to the decline. Speaking to RTL, ING supermarket expert Dirk Mulder explained that residents in smaller towns increasingly rely on local shops only for "forgotten groceries" like a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread, while driving to larger discounters in neighbouring towns for full weekly shops. "A supermarket cannot survive on that," Mulder said.

The trend is fuelled by aggressive price competition from chains such as Lidl, which recently launched campaigns highlighting savings of more than 25 euros on a full trolley compared to market leader Albert Heijn.

How did the tobacco ban impact local grocery stores?

Policy changes have compounded the pressure on local supermarkets. The national supermarket tobacco ban introduced in mid-2024 stripped independent store owners of vital daily foot traffic.

While tobacco carried low profit margins, cigarette buyers routinely bought other items during their visit. Laurens Sloot, a professor of retail at the University of Groningen, told RTL, "The tobacco ban was a kind of death blow." With smokers forced to buy tobacco at standalone shops in larger towns, smaller franchisers already grappling with rising rent, energy, and staff costs lost a crucial stream of indirect sales.

Cross-border shopping trips further weaken the position of village retailers, particularly in regions where drivers travel to Germany or Belgium for cheaper fuel and tobacco, picking up their groceries at the same time. With fewer customers entering local doors, independent owners reaching retirement age struggle to find successors, making the eventual closure of local stores almost inevitable.