Food
At the end of this year, Jumbo will open its first Belgian store that is operated by an independent entrepreneur. In this way, the Dutch supermarket chain wants to speed up its expansion.
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On Wednesday the first branch of fast food chain Chick&Cheez opened in Liège. This ambitious newcomer on the busy market of chicken restaurants wants 38 Belgian branches by 2024 and plans a roll-out to France.
General
At present, Action has 198 stores in Belgium, but CEO Sander van der Laan still sees growth opportunities in the country. He wants to focus more on big cities and indoor shopping centres.
Butlon, a Dutch online supermarket that prides itself on low prices, wants to start delivering groceries and meals in Belgium and Germany before the end of the year.
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo wants to expand its restaurant chain La Place into a global concept with hundreds of locations. Currently, it owns just under a dozen La Place restaurants, but that is to change quickly.
With a distinctive business model that is midway between a speedy delivery service and an online supermarket, Czech company Rohlik sees opportunities to conquer Europe. The war chest is well filled: the startup recently raised 100 million euros.
In the centre of the Belgian city Mechelen, Dille & Kamille is opening its twelfth Belgian store, with some new features. The retailer is also busy expanding.
Belgian luxury burger chain Be Burger has just opened its first branch in France. In Lille, the company wants to test the potential on the French market. The chain is also opening new restaurants in Belgium.
According to JPMorgan, Amazon is on track to dethrone its great rival Walmart as the largest retailer in the United States next year.
Fashion
Primark has opened its first-ever store in the Czech Republic, solidifying its Central European ambitions. The Irish budget fashion chain enters its fourteenth market and now has 396 outlets.
Maison365, a company selling clothing boxes based on personal style advice in the Netherlands and Flanders, is growing fast. CEO Maarten Valk now wants to conquer the rest of Belgium as well as Germany.
Electronics
With Hubside.Store, a new, ambitious player appears on the 'refurbished' multimedia market. The French retailer is opening 20 Belgian stores this year and is also growing rapidly elsewhere in Europe. The approach? Sustainable consumption.
Despite the drastic impact of the Covid pandemic on the retail industry, Apple has said it will continue to expand the number of physical retail outlets.
Zalando is expanding further into Eastern Europe. Today, the fashion platform launches in Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, later this year Croatia, Estonia and Latvia will follow, in 2022 it's the turn of Hungary and Romania.
Picnic is expanding its field of action towards the Belgian border. Soon, the online supermarket will also serve the cities Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom, bringing Antwerp within reach.
The future of retail lies not in selling products but in building a platform on which consumers can share their passion. CEO Ben Cornelisse describes the unique retail model of Kamera Express.
