Albert took over his father's small grocery store on his wedding day in 1887. Located in the town of Zaandam in the Netherlands, it sold a wide range of products from groceries to dredging nets and tar. The store is now a museum and visits are always welcome at Zaansche Schans.
Expansion of the retail empire did not take long. Within ten years Albert Heijn stores had opened in Alkmaar, den Haag and Amsterdam taking the total number to 23.
The first Albert Heijn brand name products started to appear on the shelves in 1911. These were cookies baked by Albert himself in the kitchen of a local mansion house. The manufacturing company ‘Marvelo’ then developed from these small beginnings into an operations range that included tea, coffee and peanut butter production as well as wine bottling.