Former Delhaize CEO Denis Knoops main shareholder in 1PopUpStore

There is life after Delhaize: former Delhaize Belgium CEO, Denis Knoops, has become a majority shareholder at 1PopUpStore, which owns Chronostock, a company that is specialized in temporary stores.

Pop-up stores, both online and offline

Business paper L’Echo wondered how Denis Knoops was doing, because he seemed to have disappeared since his departure at the head of Delhaize Belgium in September 2017. He is back though: he founded his own management and investment firm (Coconut Tree) several weeks ago and immediately invested in 1PopUpStore’s capital, a company that owns Chronostock.

Chronostock was founded eight years ago and specialized in temporary stores in empty locations. It has already opened 280 stores in Belgium and currently has a dozen active stores. “The company struggled in 2017”, Knoops said. “It needed a capital injection to experience a decent relaunch.” Knoops paid 200,000 euro and immediately became the company’s main shareholder.

He also invested in Infinity Mobile, a start-up that created the “Shopitag platform”, which allows customers to easily set up a temporary web shop for promotions or to try out several product offers.

“Bitter experience”

Knoops also looked back on his Delhaize Belgium departure. “I look back on that period with quite some bitterness”, he admits, but he did learn something from it. “I no longer wish to work with people that do not share my values.”

Knoops is still fully in favour of the 2014 restructuring: “That was a good plan, with a two-year preparation. It was a difficult humane decision, but it needed to happen”, the former CEO said.