The Dutch department store that sells everything — and somehow feels like home
Part of: Expat Essentials
HEMA is a Dutch variety store chain founded in Amsterdam in 1926. The name originally stood for Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam — the Amsterdam uniform-pricing company — because everything once cost the same fixed price. That model is long gone, but the spirit remains: straightforward goods at reasonable prices, no frills, no pretension.
There are around 550 HEMA stores in the Netherlands, plus locations across Belgium, France, Germany, and beyond. In the Netherlands, you'll find one in nearly every city centre and shopping area.
Almost everything for daily life: clothing (basics, underwear, children's wear), kitchenware, stationery, cosmetics, bedding, toys, school supplies, food, and — famously — its own-brand products that have become cultural icons in their own right.
The rookworst (smoked sausage) sold at the in-store counter is an institution. So are the tompouce (the pink glazed pastry), the stroopwafels, and the HEMA-branded chocolate sprinkles (hagelslag). These are not ironic purchases — Dutch people genuinely love them.
The tompouce — a rectangular pastry of puff pastry, cream, and pink fondant — is a HEMA staple year-round. On Koningsdag (King's Day, 27 April), HEMA releases an orange version. Orange tompouces are eaten across the country on that day: at street markets, at parties, at home. It is one of those small rituals that makes the holiday feel like a holiday.
HEMA carries a line of products featuring Jip en Janneke — the characters from Annie M.G. Schmidt's children's books, illustrated in Fiep Westendorp's distinctive black-and-white line style. Mugs, children's plates, clothing, lunchboxes. If you've seen those simple line-drawn children on products and wondered what they were, that's Jip and Janneke — a Dutch literary institution on a kitchen shelf.
HEMA occupies a specific place in Dutch life: democratic, unpretentious, reliably useful. It is not fashionable and does not try to be. It is the store where you buy children's birthday candles, a last-minute gift, a new pair of socks, and a hot dog in the same visit.
It also reflects the Dutch approach to design: functional, clean, not showy. The HEMA aesthetic — simple packaging, clear typography, honest materials — is very Doe Maar Gewoon.
HEMA is worth knowing early. It is where you go when you need something ordinary and don't want to spend time finding a specialist shop. School supplies before the new year, basic kitchenware when you've just moved in, children's clothing that you don't mind getting wrecked — HEMA covers all of it at sensible prices.
The food counter (rookworst, tompouces, coffee) is also a genuinely good option for a cheap lunch in the city centre.
One unmistakable sign of HEMA's dominance: go to enough Dutch birthday parties and you will start seeing the same balloons and slingers (paper garlands) everywhere. Same colours, same font, same design — because everyone bought them at the nearest HEMA. It is not laziness; it is just that HEMA is there, it is cheap, and it is good enough. Very Dutch.
These guides are written to help you understand the Netherlands — not to replace professional advice. We do our best to be accurate but we make mistakes and information goes out of date. For anything that affects your legal status, taxes, finances, or health, verify with an official source or a qualified advisor.