On the edges of the city, on large plots between DIY stores, sports retailers and garden centres, the furniture retail park grew from the 1980s onward into the heart of Dutch home consumption. This is where the weekend ritual of home shopping emerged: a family outing in which inspiration, advice and checkout converged in a single physical space. Furniture stores filled halls of thousands of square metres and offered an all-in-one experience: convenience, clarity and price advantage. The formula worked for decades. But what once served as the retail answer to housing needs has now become a model that is creaking under pressure.
Over the past fifteen years, more than a quarter of home furnishing stores in the Netherlands have disappeared. Vacancy rates are rising, visitor numbers are declining, margins are under pressure, and major players in the sector acknowledge that structural problems dominate. At first glance, the location seems to be the culprit: furniture retail parks far outside the city, with lots of concrete and little experience. But reality is more complex. This retail crisis is not simply the result of poor location choices; it points to deeper, structural shifts in consumer behaviour, revenue models and the use of space.
Furniture boulevards are often monotonous strips along motorways, difficult to reach without a car and lacking in stay quality. There is little hospitality, hardly any greenery, and virtually no reason to linger spontaneously. Yet the problem is not the location alone. Sites that manage to transform into inspiring or even circular hubs do remain relevant. Many home furnishing retailers still rely on an outdated revenue model: buying in bulk, offering large discounts and driving high volumes. What sounds like economies of scale is proving increasingly unsustainable in practice. High occupancy costs due to vast floor space, staff shortages and a changing housing market are eroding the foundations.
Then there is the consumer. They have not disappeared, but they have fundamentally shifted and in multiple directions at once. The furniture boulevards once served “everyone,” but that audience has fragmented into widely differing needs and lifestyles. Consumers increasingly orient themselves fully online. Younger generations are not just seeking ownership, but experience, aesthetics and flexibility. They live in smaller homes, move more frequently, and see furniture as an extension of identity focused on the temporary, the adaptable and the shareable. For them, the furniture boulevards feels far removed from their world unless it surprises them: with a pop-up, a second-hand zone or a personalised experience. Without a compelling reason to go there physically, they stay away.
In contrast stands the 50-plus consumer: practical, focused on certainty, service and tangibility. This group orients itself carefully, often together with a partner, and makes considered choices for the long term. They are less sensitive to trends, but all the more to comfort, quality and reliability. They want to buy with confidence. Yet here too, convenience prevails. They want a seamless customer journey from online inspiration to reliable delivery. And they want a place where they feel welcome, even if they do not make a purchase.
The pain point lies in treating unequal needs equally: by offering everyone the same thing, you ultimately lose everyone. That does not mean the furniture boulevards should limit itself to a single profile. It calls for spatial segmentation, differentiation in atmosphere, and clarity in proposition. A retail park is not a formula, but an ecosystem. Continuing along the old path may seem easier, but it inevitably leads to further devaluation of brand, real estate and customer relationships.
Yet there is perspective. The outlines of possible future scenarios are emerging. Think of smaller, adaptive showrooms that function as places of inspiration, combined with digital services. Or circular hubs where sales are integrated with take-back, repair and reuse. In some cases, the furniture boulevards itself could transform into an experiential destination (an ecosystem) where living, hospitality, events and care functions come together. What these scenarios share is that they require courage, collaboration and investment.
New developments on this scale cannot succeed without a long-term vision. Property owners and financial institutions will need to take the lead in jointly shaping the future of the furniture boulevards. Together with retailers, municipalities and project developers, they bear the responsibility to become, and remain, an attractive location. Through collaboration and a clear vision, with transparency and flexibility as core principles, a new ecosystem is needed, one that can respond to changing consumer behaviour across generations. There is also an advisory role here. Many chains have gone bankrupt in recent years due to excessive costs and a lack of flexibility. This could partly have been prevented if property owners and financiers had been more willing to adapt from a shared sense of responsibility. A shared look toward the future.
It takes courage to innovate and to truly take a stand as an organisation in order to be, and remain, attractive. Given its complex nature, this requires even greater courage and alignment for a furniture boulevards. Yet there is no alternative
