Tag Archives: bijenkorf

Bijenkorf Amsterdam Personal Shopping

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Bijenkorf

The Bijenkorf (Beehive in Dutch) is the oldest and most high-end luxury department store in The Netherlands. One year ago they added a premium service: shopping with personal assistance. It was long overdue and about time for Mimi Berlin Blogger Team to finally shop with one of the personal shoppers at The Bijenkorf in Amsterdam.

Suits

We must say we had a lovely experience. First, our personal shopper, Ms Kranenborg, took us onto the “floor” in search of a suit for the male party of our Blogger Team. After a while the choice was narrowed down to 3 suits, which were brought to the special, very large and comfortable, dressingroom or so-called lounge (decorated entirely in pink and brown tones) on the second floor. During fittings the female part of our team got to sit down on the couch and eat cookies. After we decided upon the purchase there was champagne ànd an experienced team of tailors! Continue reading →

Adaptive Travelers: Stairs to a Non-Existent Fourth Floor

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Adaptive Travelers: Stairs to a Non-Existent Fourth Floor

We, Mimi Blogger Team, visited the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
Being the fashion-angels that we are; we went straight to the fashion-exhibition named ‘Adaptive Travelers‘ (more on that HERE) The exhibition, by Modebelofte 2016, was held at the top floor of the Dutch luxury department store “De Bijenkorf” (‘The Beehive’ in Dutch).

De Bijenkorf in Eindhoven
Fashion Exhibition ‘Adaptive Travelers’ by Modebelofte 2016
Fashion Exhibition ‘Adaptive Travelers’ by Modebelofte 2016

But first we had to adapt ourselves to the intricate entrance route. Instead of just taking the store elevator (or escalator for that matter) we had to walk 3 flights of stairs, which are normally only used by employees, to the actual exhibition. After we exited the exhibition, via a parcours set on the roof (fun!), we saw the mysterious staircase leading to nowhere!!!

De Bijenkorf rooftop with parcours set by ‘modebelofte2016’ Notice the C&A logo. C&A is the most cheap clothing company in the Netherlands…
De Bijenkorf facade from the inside
De Bijenkorf facade from the inside
Stairs leadinf to nowhere
image bijenkorf seen from above

We find such a staircase very intruiging, this is the first time we’ve seen such an unfinished build in the Netherlands (which is a mini country with many, very strict rules). In 1960s ‘De Bijenkorf’ store only needed 3 stories, but urban planning was made for 4 stories. From the outside the fabulous building looks much taller than it actually is: the fourth floor is merely a facade. But the plans remain in the form of the stairs leading to nowhere! (Thahanks!! D. Martijn Oostra for this story)

The façade of the Dutch Departmentstore ‘De Bijenkorf” is designed by Giò Ponti (in cooperation withTheo Boosten, Frans Gaast and Mario Negri 1965/1968). Continue reading →