Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

The former THC coffee shop in Arnhem is for sale, along with the rented apartments on the upper floors. Asking price: just under a million.

Another hippie-era coffee shop is closing down; "Always nice customers, and later their children too"
One of Arnhem's oldest coffeeshops, THC in Klarendal, has closed its doors. "I've been doing it for 52 years, you see," says owner Fred Meijers (71). He's had a rough go of it.

Fred Meijers won't find a successor. The municipality refuses to give it the green light. He considers that a shame. "Generations have smoked their joints at my place. First the parents, later their children." Meijers's property at Sonsbeeksingel 100-101, a stone's throw from the Hommelse Poort, is now for sale for €995,000.
"A unique opportunity for investors seeking a well-located investment property in the heart of Arnhem," the real estate agent exclaims. "A distinctive property in a prime location, right next to the popular Fashion District and within walking distance of Arnhem city center and central station."

Meijers says he recently had the five apartments above the 1911 building renovated. "They even put a new roof on them." The five apartments are rented out.

Meijers is seriously ill and has just undergone major surgery. He wanted to find a successor as early as 2015. But that proved impossible due to the municipality's policy of eliminating coffeeshops.

At the same time, the municipality mandated that the owner always be present in the business. Meijers was extremely frustrated by this. "If I leave the house, I have to close because my employees aren't allowed to cover for me," he sighed at the time. "Then people are left out. I'm chained to my business."

The interior of the THC coffeeshop is still intact, with a wall depicting camels in the desert.
The interior of the THC coffeeshop remains intact, with a wall depicting camels in the desert.

Meijers belongs to the city's oldest generation of coffeeshop owners. "I started out on Bergstraat, with Frans de Keijzer, who later founded Zero Zero on Hommelseweg." Those were turbulent times. "One day, a police van pulled up. They even arrested me."
After Bergstraat, Meijers moved to Noppenstraat, a side street off Hommelseweg occupied by hippies. Painter Denny Jacobs captured life there in a book that reads like a smuggling novel.

He quotes a colleague of Meijers' from that time: "It was fun to get customers from Germany, England, France, Switzerland, and even Finland. At one point, there were eight sales outlets in the alley, so we were competitors. But aside from a few minor skirmishes, there was never a drug war."

The hippies brought the stuff from countries like Lebanon, Pakistan, Morocco, Turkey, and India. During raids, the narcotics squad confiscated everything they could find, suspecting it might contain drugs. One day, according to Jacobs, it was "mint tea, massage oil, nettle powder, and modeling clay."

They overlooked a pair of boots. To the dealer's surprise, they later discovered a few ounces inside. The quality of the goods varied quite a bit. Meijers: "There was a lot of old junk in there. The farmers weren't that specialized yet."

In 1980, the Noppensteeg was demolished, and the adventure there was over. Meijers: "After that, I spent some time on the Rijnkade." THC was built on the Sonsbeeksingel, near the Hommelse Poort. "In 1982, a year after Frans de Keijzer started Zero Zero around the corner."

Meijers had been perfectly happy there for decades. But in recent years, he found himself facing a municipality that refused to budge. Amsterdam investors were eager to acquire THC, but they could n't get permission from Arnhem's mayor, Ahmed Marcouch.

Marcouch emphasized that coffeeshops are tolerated in the city and that a permit cannot simply be transferred to another party. The Amsterdam investors tried to achieve a breakthrough with the municipality through summary proceedings.

Ultimately, they decided to withdraw . "They were serious guys," sighs Meijers. "Nice guys, with good credentials. They also wanted to settle somewhere else in Arnhem. But where? Before you know it, objections are pouring in from the neighborhood."

According to regulations, a maximum of eleven coffeeshops are permitted within Arnhem's borders. After THC's departure, ten remain. Joint Venture, located in the city center, was forced to close in March after a devastating fire destroyed many of the shops and homes.

The coffeeshop building remains intact. The owner, Henny van Amelsfoort, hopes to reopen later this year. A municipal official briefly suggested temporarily relocating Joint Venture to THC. The staff objected.
"Because of the criminal neighborhood," says Meijers. "It's a shame. Because this isn't a criminal neighborhood. I had the cleanest customers in all of Arnhem."