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Convenience store chain Carrefour Express has opened a pilot store in Brussels according to a new concept, which features fresh produce and organic food and tests the water for more ‘blurring’.
Store with restaurant
The new store opened this morning, near Brussels Central Station, and has franchise director Giosino Cornacchia purring with delight: “It will be a revolution!”, he promises RetailDetail in an exclusive preview. “We have limited shelf space for long-lasting products, in order to focus on everything fresh: bakery, delicatessen, fruit and vegetables… We will also showcase organic food products and the Carrefour private label. Next to the store there will be a corner with tables and chairs, in which customers can enjoy the products they bought in the salad bar, soup bar or pizza bar.”
The pilot store measures 190 sqm, of which 40 sqm is on a mezzanine. The store will be used to finetune the new concept and learn lessons on how customers in a location with many passers-by respond to it. In the future, the concept will be tweaked for residential, rural and “to go” areas.
Carrefour Express is a convenience store chain grouping 303 Belgian stores. Most of them have been renovated following its most recent format “2.1”. The chain opened thirteen new stores this year, with four more to follow later this month. On the occasion of the launch of this new concept, RetailDetail had an extensive interview with Giosino Cornacchia. This interview, which will be published soon, will delve into the retailer’s latest plans.
