The Bart Smit toy shop name is about to become the latest Dutch brand to disappear from the high street, broadcaster NOS writes on Tuesday.

Owner Blokker had announced last year it was going to drop either Intertoys or Bart Smit, a name familiar to shoppers since 1967.

‘Intertoys has a bigger turnover and is a more international brand,’ director of Blokker Holding (Intertoys, Bart Smit en Toys XL) Steven van Nieuwenhuijzen told NOS. ‘We also have strong and independent franchise holders with Intertoys shops and that is why we have chosen to continue with Intertoys.’

Nearly 200 Bart Smit shops, as well as fourteen Toys XL shops, will be refurbished and renamed and join the 265 Intertoys franchises by April 1. This takes the number of Intertoys franchises up to more than 500, with a workforce of 4,000.

Retail experts are surprised the company has not opted for fewer shops, especially since its web shop revenue is rising, NOS writes.

But according to Van Nieuwenhuijzen customers look online first and then come to the shop to buy but also like to sniff out trends and hypes in the shop before ordering in the web shop ‘We are convinced the internet and the physical shops reinforce each other.’

NOS says Blokker’s official market share in toy sector is unknown but that experts say is it ‘far exceeds 50%’. Apart from the specialised toy shops, Blokker shops and Blokker-owned Marskramer and Big Bazar also sell toys.

Belgium

The Blokker group also said on Tuesday it is closing 69 of its 190 Blokker stores in Belgium because of mounting losses.

Turnover generated by the Belgian stores has fallen 20% over the past five years and the company is expected to post a €18m loss over last year.

Blokker is currently overhauling its household product stores.