Jumbo set to reach the 50-store milestone in Belgium in early 2027

On Wednesday morning, Jumbo opened its 48th Belgian supermarket in Mortsel, the twelfth in the province of Antwerp. One more store opening is scheduled for September, the celebration for the 50th location will take place early next year.

Distinctly child-friendly

At about 1,000 m², the Mortsel location is relatively modest in size for Jumbo. It’s opening in a town that doesn’t yet have an oversupply of supermarkets: only Aldi, Carrefour Market, and Colruyt are present there, though all other competitors are active in neighboring municipalities. Entrepreneur Toon Daelemans wants to make Jumbo Mortsel an accessible neighborhood store: “Together with my team, I want to create a place where everyone feels welcome—with a smile, a friendly chat, personalized service, and a helping hand.”

The store is decidedly child-friendly, with an active role for its youngest visitors, who can collect points to earn Jumbo’s famous farm animals. A hopscotch path and playful floor stickers teach children about products like bananas and chocolate. There’s also a merry-go-round and tractors that double as shopping carts for children to ride. Anyone who drives the tractor past the checkout five times receives a tractor driver’s license. Surplus fruits and vegetables from the store are donated to the animals at the nearby school.

By the end of 2026, Jumbo will have opened a total of five new Belgian stores: following Ingelmunster, Lokeren, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, and Mortsel, Dendermonde will follow on September 30. This brings the Dutch supermarket chain’s total in Flanders to 49 stores this year. A fiftieth location will not quite be possible, says Anrico Maat, director of Jumbo Belgium, to RetailDetail. So that celebration will have to wait until early next year.

On September 16, Anrico Maat, director of Jumbo Belgium, will speak at RetailDetail’s “Captains of Retail” event in Brussels. Entrepreneur Bart Verhaeghe, the driving force behind the Broeklin retail project, will also take the stage. It is a private, invitation-only evening for C-level retailers—no open registration. Are you a retailer who can’t afford to miss this event? Let us know.