The Hudson’s Bay department store group is planning to introduce cheaper clothing lines in its new Dutch high-street stores, marketing and purchasing director Edo Beukema has told the Financieele Dagblad.

The company wants to ditch its expensive image but has no intention of pulling out of the Netherlands as some have been hinting, Beukema told the paper.

Hudson’s Bay has opened 10 department stores in the Netherlands since the summer. ‘Clients tell us in the stores and on social media what they like and what they don’t like,’ he said. ‘They think the prices are a little high. We miss brands with lower prices and that is one of the things we will change from January.’

The FD says Beukema is at pains to make clear that the format is not being overhauled in its entirety because the stores are attracting too few customers. There have also been rumours that the Canadian group is planning to pull out of Europe all together.

‘It is annoying and simply not true,’ he told the FD. ‘We will still be here in three years time,’ he said. ‘I’m happy to bet a case of very good wine on that.’

Beukema also denied that the new stores have had a disappointing start. ‘We are well on the way to realising our plans. We’ve got the public and sales have gone up considerably in the last few weeks. The first weeks people mainly came to have a look around.’