A brake for Jumbo in Belgium? The one who was announced as the new major player in mass distribution by titillating Colruyt in our country seems to be lowering his ambitions and accepting the difficulties. With a catastrophic year 2022 in Belgium (with a loss), the brand is no longer really interested in the south of the country.
And in the north, things are not going any better. The Zonhoven store, inaugurated with great fanfare in June 2021, will… close its doors at the end of the year. “Store employees have been informed of the closure,” the Jumbo spokeswoman told Belang van Limburg. But the sign wants to be reassuring: everyone is guaranteed to have a job in other stores.
However, this contrasts with the major project announced at the time. “We studied the Belgian market well before coming here”, declared the general manager of the brand, Frits van Eerd, at the inauguration of the Zonhoven store, his ninth in Belgium. He then aspired to 100 stores in our country.
The covid, the war in Ukraine… Nothing will have been spared in the chain. And in an area like Zonhoven where competition is very strong (Colruyt to Aldi, Albert Heijn, Lidl, Delhaize…), it was impossible to fight. Jumbo is therefore going to close the store… but plans to open two more. Still in the area. “We will eventually open two new stores in the region, in Hasselt and Genk. »