Marqt

In our nieuwe buurt, we located the closest Marqt to Schinkelbuurt and this is it. And its’ just as good as the other locations (Wolffstraat use to be our bio local) with the same items, brands, and fresh food quality. The bread is fabulous and the small spelt chocolate cakes are perfect for two people for a couple days desert. Anchovies are good too. Also a fresh fish area and they’re patient when I try to speak Dutch so that’s always good.

I am a huge, huge fan of Marqt and was SO happy when they opened near my house. This is a small one but they have many things I love, including a sizeable cheese section (always with samples), lots of Bbrood brand bread, some nice wines and quite a few heat and serve options (dinner entrees, soups, etc). I have discovered a few new products thanks to their samples that are always out. Yay for samples.
On the negative side, as already mentioned the store is small but does a lot of business. They often only have one register open so you can stand in line for a little bit.
And now a story to illustrate my love for Marqt: a few weeks ago I had a very bad experience at the register when the price that was ringing up for one of my items was incorrect (or so I thought). The checkout girl did not try to solve it and I left fuming mad and without the item in question. I had to go to the Albert Heijn down the street to get it which was punishment enough if you’ve ever been to that store. And on top of that I threatened to boycott the store (which unfortunately lasted about five days before I went into withdrawal, couldn’t stay away longer!). Inspired by an Australian friend who writes email complaints and praises to businesses here in town, and channeling my former American self who used to love to do this, I sent them an email and told them what happened. For two weeks I got no response which made me even more mad — but then someone from the store called and apologized and tried to make things right. And that’s another reason I love Marqt, because I feel they try to do the right thing. For me this is excellent customer service — especially when I saw last night that the price that was ringing up was indeed correct (oops oops oops, must pay more attention to per kilo versus per 500 grams). The store must have realized I had read the price incorrectly and they still went out of their way to make me feel better about how I was treated (even if the cashier was right in insisting on the price that was ringing up). Anyways, if any of you are doubters, yes it can be more expensive than other stores (though not always), but the food quality is good and so are the people apparently, which makes for a very happy me :)