While Cora hypermarkets will remain open until after the holidays, behind the scenes, feverish work is underway to open the first stores of Delhaize and others in January. RetailDetail got a glimpse behind the scenes.
Tight deadline
“Everything must go,” “Total clearance sale before closing”: at the Cora in Woluwe, the liquidation sale is in full swing—just like at the other six branches of the hypermarket chain that will close their doors in January. While customers are still snapping up bargains, part of the retail space has already been closed off: work is proceeding at a rapid pace to open the first new stores at the end of January – a 2,500 m² Delhaize and a Kiabi store on the ground floor, and Jysk and Extra Shop stores on level -1.
The deadline is tight: after all, the aim is to ensure that local customers do not have to go a single day without food supplies, says Anne Thiry of Galimmo, the operator of the shopping mall, which is now owned by real estate investor Mitiska REIM. After the opening of phase 1 – planned for January 27 in Woluwe – the rest of the site will be transformed in a second phase into a modern, attractive, and sustainable shopping center, with a varied range of retailers covering the entire assortment of the former hypermarket, including food, home furnishings, textiles, and leisure.
Attracting new customers
Interest is high: “We already have contracts or preliminary agreements for 80% of the retail space,” says Thiry. In Woluwe, this concerns a total of 23 units. The offering, with retailers mainly occupying larger spaces, will complement that of Woluwe Shopping a little further down the road. The new tenants are expected to create 200 jobs. They are committed to giving priority to interested Cora employees. The existing retailers in the shopping arcade will remain. There will also be a buyer for the gas station, which has been operated by Cora until now.
For Mitiska, the renovation of 160,000 m² on seven sites simultaneously is a major undertaking. In a third and final phase, planned for 2027, the exterior of the shopping centers will also be renovated. The developer hopes to attract new customers to the renovated shopping centers: in Woluwe, for example, also from Flanders. After all, the neighborhood where Cora is located is growing and needs a more complete retail offer. Many former office buildings here are being converted into homes.
