Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay is looking to employ 1,800 people sales staff for its new stores in the Netherlands. Friday saw the start of a large-scale recruitment drive, the AD writes.

Hudson’s Bay, which presents itself as one of the fastest growing retail companies in the world, will be opening up shop in Almere, Amsterdam, Breda, Den Bosch, The Hague, Leiden Maastricht, Rotterdam, Tilburg and Zwolle.

The first batch of Hudson’s Bay workers will start an in-house training on July 1. The company will create some 2,500 store-based jobs and another 2,500 jobs connected with building activities.

The full-on invasion of the Dutch retail landscape is an attempt to fill the gap left by the recent demise of V&D. In a number of towns Hudson’s Bay is even using the same premises as the former high street fixture.

‘The character and  atmosphere of the stores will be geared specifically towards the Dutch market,’ a Hudson’s Bay representative told the AD. ‘The stores will have the character of a startup and will become the store of the future, with well-known fashion, beauty and home ware brands.’

Hudson’s Bay, which has 500 stores worldwide, wants to open 20 stores in total in the Netherlands.