# De Bijenkorf replaces its Piet figures with a bear

> The department store says Bob de Beer, a bear figure, now acts as helper of Sint Nicolaas in its stores and shop windows for the Sinterklaas season.

Society · published 2026-11-10 11:41 · https://nlnow.nl/a/de-bijenkorf-replaces-its-piet-figures-with-a-bear/

De Bijenkorf has replaced its pieten, the helper figures of Sinterklaas, with a bear called Bob de Beer. The department store announced the change in a post on social media.

Shoppers will meet the bear during the Sinterklaas season, the run-up to the Sinterklaas feast. The store wrote that Bob takes on a new role then. "During the Sinterklaas season he takes on a new role as helper of Sint Nicolaas and brings wonder, fun and festive magic to our stores and shop windows," it said.

The store's climbing pieten had been gilded since 2015. At the time the chain said it was aware of the sensitivities around the Sinterklaas story. "We follow the discussion in society with interest and respect," it said then.

The change comes 11 years after the pieten were gilded, and bears now take the place of the climbing figures.

De Bijenkorf has given no reason for dropping the pieten. Whether the change is linked to the long-running debate over the colour of Piet is not confirmed.

In its post, the store describes Bob de Beer as "a familiar presence for our customers". The pieten, it wrote, have been replaced by the bear, who now appears in the stores and shop windows as a helper of Sint Nicolaas.

## Background

- **De Bijenkorf**: De Bijenkorf is a Dutch department store chain, with shops in major cities across the Netherlands and an online store. It sells fashion, beauty, home goods and gifts, and it is one of the best-known retail names in the country.
- **Sinterklaas**: Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas, a traditional winter figure who is celebrated with a gift-giving feast on 5 December. The Sinterklaas season is the weeks before that date, when he is visible in shops, schools and on television, and families and schools mark it with songs, surprises and small presents.

From NLnow, news from the Netherlands in English. How stories are made: https://nlnow.nl/about/