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Vanhalst Retail Group is building an impressively broad retail portfolio. With Supra Bazar, Dreambaby, Kabine, and Qiddo, the West Flemish family-owned group aims to accompany customers through every stage of life. CEO Bavo Vanhalst explains at the Retail Marketing Day how this “Circle of Life” strategy works in practice.
10,000-square-meter one-stop shops
Dreambaby opened a new store this weekend on the former Cora site in Anderlecht. It’s already the fourth new location for the baby products specialist in just a few months. What’s more, the chain will have a total of 32 stores in Belgium by the end of 2026. And it doesn’t stop there for Vanhalst: the completely renovated Supra Bazar also reopened in Tielt at the end of May. At the Retail Marketing Day in September, Bavo Vanhalst will reveal the vision behind this bold expansion.
The reopening in Tielt was just as busy as the busiest Saturday at the end of the year. “That’s gratifying,” says Bavo Vanhalst. After all, the renovation was no small undertaking: “We literally rearranged every square meter. Every store shelf, every aisle, the entire flow: everything has been rethought with accessibility, visibility, and the shopping experience in mind.”
The store was expanded by 1,800 square meters by downsizing the warehouse, which had become too large. “We used to rely more on decentralized storage per store. Today, our logistics flow is much better optimized, thanks in part to our ERP system. As a result, we no longer needed that warehouse space in the same way.”
For every stage of life
Supra Bazar Tielt now spans approximately 8,500 square meters. The group’s two largest stores even cover 10,000 square meters. These are exceptional sizes in a retail landscape where many players are actually aiming to become smaller and “asset-light.” Vanhalst is aware of this, but sees the broad product range as an essential part of the business model.
“We try to be there for every stage of life, from birth to 99-plus, and always across three different price ranges. We have low prices, but not disposable quality.” That breadth requires space, because not every product turns over at the same rate. “You can’t just look at sales per square meter with us. We don’t sell our most expensive knife sharpeners every day, but in our type of store, the product range has to be complete. The customer has to be able to find something for every need.”
Three retail formats, three customer expectations
In Tielt, the baby department in particular was given more space. That’s no coincidence. With Supra Bazar, Dreambaby, and Kabine, Vanhalst Retail Group has three concepts that overlap to some extent, especially in the baby and children’s segments. Yet Vanhalst doesn’t see this as cannibalization. “With our three retail concepts, we all cater to babies, but each one targets a different type of customer with different expectations.”
According to him, Kabine caters more to high-end customers and sells baby products that don’t always fit the offerings of Dreambaby or Supra Bazar. Dreambaby, on the other hand, specializes in babies from birth to three years old. Supra Bazar attracts customers who want to shop beyond just baby items. “The Supra Bazar customer creating a baby registry also comes to us for our broader range. For a second or third child, the list might also include a backpack, toys, or a gift card.” The group tries to ensure these concepts don’t overlap, but rather work together.
This interview is part 1 of a three-part interview series with Bavo Vanhalst, following his keynote speech at Retail Marketing Day 2026 in Brussels. This year, the Retail Marketing Day features the resilient and agile stories of retailers who are rewriting the rules, including AVA, Albert Heijn, and Planet B.
