Dutch retailer Jumbo saw its 2019 turnover go up by almost 15 %, fuelled by both the opening of dozens of new stores and a like-for-like growth that exceeded that of the market. Its expansion to Belgium is proving highly successful.
Growing market share
Jumbo Groep Holding ended its fiscal year yesterday, and published a total turnover of 8.68 billion euros. The group’s eponymous supermarkets made up almost all of this ten digit figure, raising their turnover to 8.43 billion. Jumbo’s restaurant chain La Place grew by 10 % to 165 million, with the remaining 85 million being generated by the Emté stores that are in the process of being turned into Jumbo stores.
Jumbo now has 672 stores, 54 more than a year earlier. Most of the newcomers are rebranded Emté supermarkets, other noticeable newbies include two new stores of Jumbo’s biggest concept Foodmarkt, two new City stores and the chain’s first three stores in Belgium. On top of that came an autonomous growth of 6.5 %, significantly higher than the average market growth of 4 %. This allowed Jumbo to raise its market share in the Netherlands to over 21 %.
Belgium
The Belgian expansion has gone exceedingly well, the Dutch number two says: “We have received a lot of positive reactions from customers and have registered turnovers that way way above expectation.” Jumbo wants to open twelve to fifteen Belgian stores next year: “We have been received very well in Belgium and see a lot of room for expansion over there”, CEO Frits Van Eerd said.
“We finish another year with strong results”, the CEO said hopefully: “If we can keep up this growth rate in 2020, we should be able to reach our turnover target of 10 billion euros by 2021 – the year in which our company turns 100. Huge opportunities and possibilities await us.” Van Eerd points to the role of experience in stores (“as showcased by the success of our Foodmarkt stores”) and delicious, healthy food. Jumbo learns from its experiences with restaurant chain La Place and uses them to improve ‘blurring’ in its regular and City stores, the CEO concluded.
