Colruyt follows suit, opens all Okay stores on Sundays

Colruyt Group has announced it wants to open all of its Okay stores on Sunday mornings, to meet the demand of customers who want to shop on Sundays as well. With this intended move, the Belgian retailer responds to the tidal change initiated by Delhaize.

Changed circumstances

As a convenience store chain with a wide range of fresh products, Okay is the ideal chain to respond to changing consumer needs, Colruyt Group states. The retailer now has to negotiate with the trade unions, and will communicate later when the stores can actually open on Sundays.

The announcement is not very surprising: Delhaize’s shift from self-managed branches to franchised stores led to the vast majority of the independent Delhaize branches to open on Sundays. This has thoroughly changed the competitive circumstances in Belgium, and it is now becoming a disadvantage for competitors not to open on Sundays. Earlier this month, Carrefour had also already announced that it wants to open its integrated stores on Sundays, now that the new Belgian government wants to relax the rules on opening hours.

More flexible shopping Flexibeler boodschappen doen

“Customers want more flexibility in when they can shop – every day of the week, including Sundays”, Okay director Christophe Dehandschutter points out. “We see that this is a trend that is continuing and the market is evolving in that direction. As market leader and the only Belgian retailer, we – as Colruyt Group – want to meet this need of the Belgians and want to open all Okay stores on Sunday mornings.”

Okay has 146 stores and 2,450 employees. Within the Colruyt Group, the 22 Okay City stores, the three Okay Direct stores, the four Cru markets, several CoMarkt/Comarché stores and more than 200 Spar franchise stores already open on Sundays. The (largest) Colruyt chain also often opens stores in tourist regions (the Belgian coast and the Ardennes) on Sunday mornings during busy periods.