Jumbo makes statement with first Belgian City store

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo City has opened its first City store in Belgium at a prime location in the centre of Antwerp. The store focuses on fresh produce and ‘food to go’.

Food to go

Jumbo City’s first Belgian store has a sales area of 600 sqm, and makes a statement with its location – in a beautiful corner building on the Teniersplaats, right on the busy axis between Antwerp’s Central Station and the city’s main shopping street Meir. A very visible prime location with high rent, and therefore also a marketing investment, you could say.

In contrast to the supermarket chain’s regular city supermarkets, this Jumbo City is a ‘basket store’ that mainly attracts passers-by. The retailer will be presenting a wide range of fresh products and a lot of ‘food to go’: sandwiches, wraps, salads, juices… At the centre of the store, there is a fresh food kitchen with grilled chicken, cooked meals and a pizza corner. Customers can pay at a number of self-service check-outs, although the retailer has also provided two staffed check-outs.

Evaluate first, then roll out

“At this location, we are going to test how the Jumbo City formula appeals to the Belgian customer”, Jumbo Belgium director Peter Isaac explains. “We are taking things one step at a time. We want to evaluate well before further rolling out this concept in Belgium. We certainly see opportunities, but we do not yet have any specific locations for additional Jumbo City branches.”

This is the sixteenth store for Jumbo in Belgium. Next week the supermarket chain will open its seventeenth and last Belgian branch for this year in Kuurne. Next year, around fifteen additional stores are in the pipeline. “There are also quite a few new construction projects, so the opening dates are sometimes uncertain, but we will manage to reach that number”, Isaac says. As is known, Jumbo sees potential for about a hundred store in Belgium.