On Thursday morning, Belgian retailer Delhaize reopened its supermarket Sart Tilman in Liège under independent ownership. It is the 64th store to be transferred out of the 128, so the retailer is exactly halfway.
10 % sales increase
Since last October, two to four Delhaize stores have been passing into the hands of independent franchisees every week. The whole transition plan should be completed before the end of this year. Incidentally, number 65 already reopened on Friday morning, in Brussels.
The transferred shops are showing encouraging results under their new owners, Delhaize announced: many are recording revenue increases of more than 10 %. This growth comes from a combination of their entrepreneurship, a more flexible labour organisation, more focus on local products and extended opening hours – in many cases also on Sundays.
