Final store formats for Comarkt/Comarché stores announced
Monday, April 28, 2025
About a year after Colruyt Group completed the conversion of Match and Smatch stores to Comarkt/Comarché, the final destinations of these stores have now been confirmed*: Belgium will gain 21 Spar Colruyt Group stores, 14 Okay, 10 Colruyt, 6 Bio-Planet stores and 1 Cru market. The full conversion to the retailer's final store formats in Belgium is scheduled to be completed by 2027.
54 stores set to be conversed over three years
In September 2023, Colruyt Group reached an agreement to acquire 54 Match and Smatch stores in Belgium. Within just eight weeks, 39 stores were converted to Comarkt/Comarché stores, 7 stores that were already franchised as Match/Smatch stores were immediately transitioned to Spar Colruyt Group (one of these is now a Comarkt store), and 7 stores were temporarily closed in order to reopen under their final brand identity. The Belsele store did not open.
At present, the final store formats for all locations have been confirmed, including the final names these stores will carry (see attachment*).
Today, 33 more Comarkt/Comarché stores still need be converted to their final format. Annicq Balcaen, operations business manager of Comarkt/Comarché: “At the start, we decided to take three years to convert all stores into Colruyt Group stores. It is a serious challenge to convert all the premises in this time span and to properly welcome and train the new employees so that they can make the transition smoothly. Thanks to the efficiency inherent in Colruyt Group's DNA, we are today fully on track to achieve this objective."
From Comarkt/Comarché employee to Colruyt (Professionals), Bio-Planet, Spar, Cru and Okay
Each store underwent a thorough evaluation to determine which format would best suit the needs of the local community. Ultimately, the Colruyt Group stores in Belgium will be expanded to include 8 Colruyt Lowest Prices and 2 Colruyt Professionals stores, 6 Bio-Planet stores, 21 Spar Colruyt Group stores, 14 Okay stores and 1 Cru market. As a result of the expansion, Colruyt Group is now more strongly represented in Wallonia and Brussels. Where necessary, the strategy for transitioning to a new format during and after the conversions is adjusted to meet customer needs as effectively as possible.
All Match and Smatch employees are given the opportunity to work at Colruyt Group. They retain their original wage conditions. Annicq Balcaen: “Every employee can choose their future shop format. Colruyt Group discusses with them in detail what the transition means in concrete terms. This clarity is greatly appreciated by our new colleagues, who are also happy to work for a stable Belgian employer."
A journey of doing and learning
According to Annicq Balcaen, this ambitious feat proved to be a challenging yet rewarding endeavour: “We have learned a lot over the past year. Our years of experience as a group were coupled with the new insights we gained during the acquisition process. The learning process goes both ways, which is very enriching. A whole new Colruyt Group world opened up for our new colleagues. That’s why we carefully guide them through these changes: a new tailor-made range, the advantages of our Xtra-app, automatic restocking, our pricing and our check-out system ... On the other hand, as Colruyt Group we are used to our shops having uniform installations. This is not the case at the Comarkt/Comarché shops, and requires flexibility and great adaptability from employees. I am proud that we succeed in this every day."
The Comarkt-/Comarché story started with almost 1,000 employees. Of these, about half are now yet to find their place in a new Colruyt Group shop format while the Comarkt/Comarché is being converted.
*An overview of the involved stores and their new formats can be found in the attached document.