[In the picture] Albert Heijn opens its third Belgian XL store in Machelen

On Wednesday morning, Albert Heijn opened its third XL store in Belgium on the former Makro site in Machelen, right next to a Delhaize supermarket—a massive 2,800 m² supermarket.

Machelen replaces Vilvoorde

Strictly speaking, this is a relocation: this store replaces the Albert Heijn in Vilvoorde, which closed its doors on October 18. With this opening, Albert Heijn therefore maintains a total of 89 locations in Belgium. Like the former store in Vilvoorde, the new XL location is operated by brothers Mathieu and Gabriel Colpan, who also own the Albert Heijn in Merchtem and know the region well. They used to shop at the former Makro site with their parents.

Today, the site is home to recently opened stores from DIY giant Colos, Delhaize, McDonald’s, Colruyt Professionals, and Solucious. Eventually, the entire site will be redeveloped, and the stores currently located in the former Makro building will move to new premises.

Open every day

Across 2,800 m² of retail space, customers will discover, among other things, a particularly spacious fresh food section with an extensive selection of fruits and vegetables, fresh sushi dishes from the Sushi Daily kiosk, a large bakery section, plenty of ready-to-eat meals and products to enjoy on the go, a wide range of vegetarian and plant-based products, and a spacious Bonus aisle with new, competitively priced weekly specials.

Shoppers can check out at four conveyor-belt registers or one of the fifteen self-checkout lanes. The large parking lot with more than 1,000 spaces makes parking a breeze. Accessible parking spaces and family parking spots are also located near the entrance. Albert Heijn XL Machelen is open every day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.