Services
Rotterdam also bans storage rooms of online services
Storage rooms for online services, so-called dark stores, will be banned in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the future. Photo: Peter Dejong/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Within ten minutes the purchase should be at the customer’s door. What is meant as an attractive offer, however, is already driving another city in the Netherlands up the wall.
Rotterdam temporarily prohibits the establishment of storage rooms, so-called dark stores, by online delivery services.
Citizens complained about noise, blocked sidewalks and dangers in traffic, the city justified the ban on Thursday. Amsterdam had also announced a ban on shops last week.
New online delivery services promise to deliver purchases to customers’ homes within ten minutes. In order to keep the promise, however, they must also have their camps in residential areas. These are called dark stores because the windows are usually covered with black foil.
risk of accidents increases
Dutch people in big cities are increasingly complaining about the super-fast bike couriers. They caused accidents in traffic. In addition, dozens of couriers waited in front of the shops for an order.
“In principle, fast delivery is not wrong,” said the responsible councilor in Rotterdam, Roos Vermeij. “But how it works in practice now is really annoying.” The city does not begrudge the new companies their income, she said. “But above all, we treat the people of Rotterdam to nice shopping streets without any nuisance.”
According to the authorities, the dark stores are not about open-access supermarkets, instead they are distribution centers. And they should be kept out of residential areas. There are more and more express delivery services in the Netherlands. According to a market analysis from last summer, a good four percent of 18 to 34-year-olds use the service to date.