The new collecting: Philatelic Adventure Store

On Thursday, April 8, the Netherlands' largest and most spectacular stamp shop in Haarlem was opened by Marilyn Monroe. No fewer than four retail premises were merged into one large store with various departments, which we will review here. We also ask Rob Smit a few questions about this new store and his vision on collecting. The Philatelic Adventure Store has a number of special departments: ‘The Old Stamp Shop’ Here you step into another time. A real old-fashioned stamp shop where you can find classic stamps. ‘Thematic Adventure’ In this department, stamps are presented by theme. The walls, ceiling, floor, and cabinets are midnight blue. Parties and Occasions Here you will find remnants, stockbooks, collections, and second-hand lots. Perhaps something you have been looking for for a very long time. Just like that… because someone else is getting rid of it. Map Department In this section, you can find thousands of postcards sorted by subject. There are even postcards of metal and metal advertising signs to be found. 'Collection corner' Collectio is PostBeeld's own brand of stamp and coin accessories. ´Regular shop´ This is the rest of the store. Here you will find plenty of stamps and philatelic supplies. At the checkout, you can get information and find great bargains. From here, you have access to all other departments. Of course, Postzegelblog is Curious about the idea behind the Philatelic Adventure Store. Rob Smit: 'I was able to buy the building around which our store (until then spread across three retail premises) was, as it were, curved. Once I had acquired it, I spent a long time thinking about exactly what I would do with it, and gradually the idea for the Adventure Store emerged. Partly driven by changing collecting habits and as an extension of our websites, this seems like a logical completion of the whole.' What is the added value of the Philatelic Adventure Store over other stamp shops? Rob Smit: 'I know from experience that there are different target groups. By housing various departments in one store, each with its own atmosphere, we can optimally serve different target groups and make them feel at home with us. And, of course, we have a large stock of stamps from all over the world.' According to many people, stamp collecting is becoming less and less interesting. What do you think about this? Rob Smit: 'In the way many people used to do it, that may well be true. However, we observe many changes within stamp collecting, where building a collection can be a fun and interesting activity. In most cases, such a collection is therefore much more personal because it aligns with either other collections, or other interests, hobbies, or professions. Virtually any existing collection can be partially transformed into a much more interesting personal collection. With tips and advice in this direction, I have been able to re-engage people with stamps many times (this includes collectors who actually wanted to quit and are now back at it, sometimes even fanatically). Of course, it is by no means possible to re-engage everyone, but new collectors are still joining.' What new trends do you see in stamp collecting, and have you taken this into account in the shop? Rob Smit: 'I have certainly taken that into account. We have quite a few customers (via the internet) who do not have stamps as their main collection, but as part of their collection. Usually, this involves a theme (e.g., everything related to golf, comics, or whatever). In our Thematic Adventure department, we have reversed that for a change. We look at what appears on stamps and have selected (collectible) items to match. In this way, we hope to sell some other items to that thematic collector as well, and conversely, we hope to sell stamps to people who come in for comic books, model cars, or other items. With our own brand, Collectio, we also offer a number of collectors a custom-made storage system. The new 'Create Your Topic' system, in particular, will contribute increasingly to this over the course of this year. Additionally, in our 'old stamp shop,' we offer the true philatelist the opportunity and atmospheric setting to view many stamps in peace and quiet. And the other departments also have their own, yet contemporary, atmosphere.' What is the most beautiful stamp in the whole world to you? Rob Smit: 'I find the artworks by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, specially designed as stamps, beautiful, but because beauty is quite subjective, I prefer to talk about what I find particularly special or remarkable, and those are stamps with a story or a piece of contemporary historical representation—perhaps not always beautiful, but certainly fascinating.' For a long time, I kept a piece of the Berlin Wall (which I had carved out myself four years after the issue of this stamp) together with a stamp from the GDR commemorating 25 years of the Anti-Fascist Protection Wall. That one small stamp from Argentina from 1982 with the overprint 'Las Malvinas son Argentinas' has also always fascinated me. At that time, the British were already on their way to liberate the Falkland Islands, or to bring them back under British rule. However you look at it. It seems to be becoming relevant again, now that Argentina is once again expressing claims to the Falkland Islands or Malvinas. I find the most shocking stamp to be an Iranian stamp from 1991, issued on Children's Day no less, depicting a child smashing a window with a Star of David. Stamps from North Korea also fit into this category, showing a 'heroic' Korean crushing the skull of an American soldier with the butt of a rifle. I also find stamps with a postal history, sometimes loose, usually on a postal item, interesting. Now that the store has had such a massive restyling, will your site get that soon too? Rob Smit: 'Yes, we have been working on this for a while (a preview of the homepage is already visible via our site). Technically speaking, however (it contains many special features and technical innovations), we haven't quite finalized the whole thing yet. Now that the store is ready, I am going to put in extra effort to get this done together with web developers.' Our free world catalogue www.freestampcatalogue.com It now contains virtually all stamps from the period 1920 to the present. We are gradually working on including issues from before 1920 for a number of countries as well. So there is certainly reason to pay a visit to Haarlem! The address is: Kloosterstraat 19/21, 2021 VJ Haarlem.