Hema opens its first UK store in Victoria, London, on June 12. Here are a few facts you never knew about the Dutch value player.

1

In the 1920s Hema’s founders Jewish entrepreneurs Arthur Isaac and Leo Meyer wanted to open a store for people with limited means. But Hema didn’t just attract the financially constrained – Hema says the middle and upper classes snapped up its wares but they sent in their servants rather than be seen shopping at the value retailer. Within a year it had opened its first store outside Amsterdam and by 1928 it already had 10 stores.

2

After the Second World War Hema began its expansion drive, heading into neighbouring Belgium in 1984, which has become its second largest market.

3

Hema says it plans to open 10 shops in and around London, with Kingston and Bromley set as the sites for the next stores after its London Victoria debut. These are part of 25 new store openings planned for 2014 across Europe.

4

Hema has become part of life in the Netherlands where one in eight of the Dutch population dry off using a Hema bath towel.

5

Hema sells five fitted sheets every minute.

6

Half of all Dutch babies wear a Hema bodysuit, while a fifth of Dutch women own a Hema bra.

7

Five Million people visit Hema stores each week in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

8

Famed for its Dutch smoked sausage, the retailer sells one of its meaty treats every three seconds. About 28,000 smoked sausages are consumed in the Netherlands on a daily basis. They wash them down with a lot of Hema coffee – it sells a cup carrying the Rainforest Alliance mark every five seconds.

9

And for those who could still manage a little something, Hema sells enough cream slices every year to circle the globe twice, which we calculate works out as around 115 return trips between Amsterdam and London.

10

80% of its staff are women and on average its employees stay with the company for 10 years.

11

Hema is online too, with a UK web shop in the offing, and as part of its expanding supply chain it opened its first trade office in South East Asia in 2006.

12

Hema stands for Hollandsche Eenheidsprijzen Maatschappij Amsterdam, or Dutch Standard Prices Company Amsterdam.