Van Dalen Boutique opens its 7th store
Van Dalen Boutique opens its 7th store in The Netherlands. After the recent opening of Van Dalen Cigar Boutique Groningen and Van Dalen Cigar Boutique Maastricht, it is now time for Van Dalen Cigar Boutique Den Haag.
A little history
Van Dalen Cigars is a name with a long history. The tobacconist opened its doors before the Second World War in the city of Rotterdam. When the founders passed away, the sons’ Tom & Ed took over. They were the first shop in The Netherlands with a walk-in humidor in the 1980s. About a decade ago, the brothers were ready for retirement but with no successors. In came Sasja van Horssen, 3rd generation tobacconist. Van Horssen owns Longfiller Company, the second-largest premium cigar importer in The Netherlands behind Cubacigar. He already had a tobacco retail location in Den Bosch and he acquired the Van Dalen location as well.
The shop in Den Bosch was renamed Van Dalen Cigars Den Bosch. Years later, Van Horssen acquired another shop with a great reputation, Ted Bogers in Dordrecht which is now Van Dalen Cigars Dordrecht. Last year, a new store emerged in Amsterdam, in the same block as Van Horssen’s Cigaragua. And this year new Van Dalen Cigar Boutiques opened in Groningen and Maastricht. The Maastricht location is a joint venture with Wil & Tom Winkelman, who already have a tobacco retail shop in Eygelshoven. The Groningen location is a franchise. The new Den Haag location will be a franchise as well.
Family blood
The franchiser of the new Van Dalen Cigar Boutique Den Haag is no other than Raymon Van Horssen. And yes, it is family. Raymon is the nephew of Sasja, the son of his late brother Ilja. It is not the first experience Raymon Van Horssen has in tobacco retail, as he is a partner in La Casa del Habano The Hague. And with the same partner, he also owns the G. De Graaff cigar & chocolate brand. The other partner isn’t involved in the Van Dalen Cigar Boutique though.
Raymon Van Horssen says “working with my uncle Sasja is a dream come through. We spoke about it for years and the time is here now. The Van Dalen Cigar Boutique is a strong concept and with my experience and the addition of G. De Graaff we can enhance each other. Together we will make the concept even stronger.”
“Cigars are a family business. To work together with my brothers’ son Raymon is a privilege that makes me proud to my core. We have opened an impressive amount of shops this year and I am very happy with each one of them, but I hope they can forgive me for finding this one special,” says Sasja Van Horssen in a statement to us.
Location
The shop will be located on Noordeinde 154 in The Hague. And for those familiar with the city, that’s only 250 meters away from the Royal Palace and 500 meters from the La Casa del Habano. The shop has a humidor of 30 square meters and a total retail area of 70 square meters. Raymon and Sasja hope to have a soft opening in about a month.
The idea is to use the retail shop next door for the high-end G. De Graaff Chocolate. The plan is to make it a workspace for a chocolatier with a retail store. G. De Graaff used to have a retail shop for their cigars and chocolate not far from the new shop but due to lack of maintenance by the landlord, De Graaff had to abandon the shop.
