General
Hema had a bumpy ride last year: comparable turnover dropped and losses increased due to the change in ownership. The department store chain is therefore making some bold choices: it's selling its bakeries and developing wholesale activities for the first time.
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Food
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is homing in on e-commerce: the chain partners with its online sibling Bol.com and makes it possible for affiliated entrepreneurs to offer their own webshop.
Fashion
Pullin, a French sports and outdoors fashion brand, has opened its first European store outside of France in the Dutch city of Sittard. The brand is mostly known for its trendy underwear with tongue-in-cheek designs.
Coffee chain Starbucks is restructuring its European activities. The Amsterdam office closes, resulting in 190 dismissals, and Mexican franchise group Alsea will take over all stores in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The Dutch Hema chain has ended the franchising agreement for 24 stores after a long lasting dispute about how much franchisers have to pay for online sales.
French retail group Casino means business with its Franprix brand in Brussels, because it is planning for a second location, with several franchisees who have presented themselves.
Danish jewelry formula Amazing Jewelry will now also enter the Dutch market, after it had already entered the Belgian market last year. The “Zara of the jewelry industry” recently signed a master franchise deal and the first store will open in Utrecht.
French department store chain Galeries Lafayette will sell 22 locations to real estate group Financière Immobilière Bordelaise, which will in turn manage these as a franchise store. Nothing will change for the employees.
Polish AmRest Holdings acquired Pizza Hut’s French pick-up points and delivery services from Belgian group Top Brands for an undisclosed fee.
The very first Dutch Quetzal Chocoladebar will open its doors on 1 September in Amersfoort. The store formula offers artisan chocolate milk, chocolate and brownies, created in a sustainable fashion. The Belgian franchise chain intends to open 3 to 5 Dutch stores this year alone.
After a first failed attempt more than 10 years ago, Quick is now trying to get another foothold in Morocco. The hamburger restaurant chain has just opened its first franchise store in Rabat.
