End draws near for Match in Flanders

In Edegem, near Antwerp, the local supermarket Match has closed and will be replaced by a Colruyt. The Louis Delhaize subsidiary now only has three supermarkets remaining in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, as its Mechelen supermarket closed this summer.

Opening voorjaar 2023

A month ago, the Match supermarket in Edegem closed, with the municipality saying it would be replaced without giving more information. The new occupant of the site has now been revealed: market leader Colruyt Group will open its discount concept Colruyt Laagste Prijzen early next year, local newspaper Gazet Van Antwerpen reports.

Match had been active in Edegem since it took over the five supermarkets of local chain Jawa in 1995. Only one of those five is still operating as a Match – making it one of just three surviving Match supermarkets in the Flemish Region (along with Leuven and Ghent). This is down from five in August, as the chain closed its store in Mechelen as well – again making way for a Colruyt Group supermarket.

At one time, Match had more than 250 stores in four countries (Belgium, France, Hungary and Luxembourg), but that number has gone down dramatically – and will go down to zero once Louis Delhaize Group completes its transformation plan and turns all Match supermarkets into a new and innovative concept called Louis Delhaize Open Market. Its sister chain Smatch (‘Small Match’), of which there still are dozens in the Flemish Region as well, will also meet its end – those stores will all become regular Louis Delhaize stores.