The renowned tobacco shop Wilke Tabak in Arnhem, The Netherlands, will transform into a Van Dalen Cigar Boutique. The shop, owned by brother and sister Rene & Carine Kraaijenbrink, is an institution in the greater Arnhem area and has been around for decades. By joining the Van Dalen Cigar Boutique family, the shop will specialize even more on tobacco. With the ban on tobacco sales in supermarkets, convenience stores and gas-stations, and tobacco only being available in specialized shops in the next few years to come, it is a smart decision to specialize.

Van Dalen Cigar Boutique is a concept launched by the cigar importer Longfiller Company. Van Dalen Cigars in Rotterdam was a well-known name in the Dutch cigar industry, with the brothers Van Dalen being the first to open a walk-in humidor in the 1970s. When they retired, Longfiller Company acquired the shop and rebranded their existing shop in Den Bosch to a Van Dalen Cigar Boutique as well. In the last few years, the number of shops expanded, either by opening shops fully owned and operated by Longfiller Company, or in collaboration with other retailers such as the shops in Groningen, Maastricht, Roermond and now in Arnhem. The Cigaragua flagship store in Amsterdam is also part of the group.

“We are proud and happy to announce that from February 1, we will continue the Wilke Tabak store under the flag of Van Dalen Cigar Boutique. Carina Kraaijenbrink will run the store with help and support from her brother, Rene. In the summer of ’24, we will convert the store into an authentic Van Dalen Cigar Boutique. Opening a new store in Arnhem fits in with our growth ambition to have approximately 15 cigar specialty stores throughout the Netherlands under the flag of Van Dalen Cigar Boutique. The counter now stands at nine stores in the Netherlands,” Tom Mulder, CEO of Longfiller Company said to Cigar Inspector.

Rene Kraaijenbrink added “It is fantastic to become part of this group and enhance the passion that Carina and I already had. This has been a process of many months but from the start, we felt support and trust in our conversations with Sasja (van Horssen, founder of Longfiller Company, and COO) and Tom.”