On Wednesday 1 July, Okay City will open a new city store in Gelijkheidstraat in Ostend. Customers will find everything they need for their daily shopping at guaranteed low prices, which are adjusted daily to match those of nearby supermarkets. This store is the first Okay City in Ostend, the second on the Belgian coast after Blankenberge, and the 26th in Belgium. With this new neighbourhood store, Okay City aims to meet the needs of residents from the surrounding neighbourhood, as well as Ostend residents and tourists who prefer to avoid the busy access roads into the city centre.
Fast and Convenient Shopping With a Full Buurtslagers Range
The renewed store in Ostend is reopening as an Okay City with an integrated Buurtslagers department. Across 365 m², customers will find everything for their daily shopping: from fresh produce and bread to on-the-go items. The familiar Buurtslagers range also remains available, including freshly prepared filled rolls and sandwiches, cold cuts, fresh meat and ready-made meals.
Okay City Ostend was created by merging the former CoMarkt stores in Gelijkheidstraat and Frère Orbanstraat. The Gelijkheidstraat premises underwent a complete makeover with a fully updated interior, while maintaining the same floor space. The team consists of nine employees, all familiar faces who previously worked in the store. Customers can also shop there 7 days a week for all their daily essentials.
Two Partners, One Checkout
Okay City and Buurtslagers operate together under one store concept. Customers can easily pay for all their purchases at the Okay City checkout. Tim Biebaut, City Manager of Okay City Ostend and Okay City Blankenberge, explains: "Our team is ready to welcome customers every day. We aim to be an accessible neighbourhood store where local residents can do their daily shopping quickly and easily at consistently competitive prices. Thanks to the integrated Buurtslagers and our extended opening hours, we offer a complete range in one place. What's more, and this is rather exceptional for an Okay City, we have our own car park with twelve spaces and ample bicycle parking. This allows customers to reach the store smoothly and comfortably."
Buurtslagers is also enthusiastic about the new collaboration. District Manager Gauthier Van Hulle adds: "We are very pleased with the partnership between Buurtslagers and Okay City. Customers can continue to rely on the same products and trusted quality as before, as well as the same familiar faces in the preparation room."
Guaranteed Low Prices and Open Seven Days a Week
At Okay City, customers can always count on guaranteed low prices for their everyday shopping, right in their own neighbourhood. With Xtra, customers receive additional promotions, automatically applied when scanning the Xtra app or card at the checkout. Buurtslagers also offers strong weekly promotions. The store is open from Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. and on Sundays and public holidays from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Customers can count on the strong promotions and competitive prices that are characteristic of Colruyt Group.
Colruyt Group Continues to Expand in Urban Areas
The opening of this new Okay City store fits perfectly within Colruyt Group's ambition to also offer more relevant retail store formats in urban environments, where consumers can shop easily and affordably. There are now 26 Okay City stores in total. With the opening in Ostend, the coast now has its second Okay City, after Blankenberge.
More information about Okay City and Colruyt Group's ambitions can be found in this article.
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Un magasin durable tourné vers l’avenir
Like the other store formats within Colruyt Group, Okay City attaches great importance to sustainable construction and with the lowest possible environmental impact. The new Okay City in Ostend is equipped with an eco-friendly cooling system that emits 90% less CO2 than traditional installations. The heat released by the cooling is also recovered to heat the store.
Contact:
Colruyt Group press office
Tel.: +32 (0)479 72 29 10 or +32 (0)2 363 55 45
Email: press@colruytgroup.com
Buurtslagers
Tel: +324 77 78 06 41
Email: gauthier.vanhulle@meatandmore.be
Practical information:
Okay City Oostende
Gelijkheidstraat 89
8949 Oostende
Tel.: 02 616 70 27
www.okay.be
Buurtslagers
Tel.: 059 27 33 90
www.buurtslagers.be
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday: from 7 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
Sundays and public holidays: from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
About Okay City
Okay City is the urban concept of neighbourhood supermarket Okay. Traditional Okay stores are located along busy access roads, close to village centres, while Okay City focuses specifically on city centres. With an average surface area of 350 m², Okay City stores are smaller than traditional Okay supermarkets, which average 650 m². The assortment also differs slightly from that of Okay: there are more on-the-go products, such as coffee, chilled drinks and hot snacks. Okay City stores do not use shopping trolleys, only baskets, to make shopping as quick and efficient as possible. Okay City has now 26 stores, and customer feedback is very positive. Neighbourhood supermarket Okay has already more than 145 stores and sees potential to grow to 180 stores in the long term.
About Buurtslagers
Buurtslagers started in 1990. Today you will find more than 130 Buurtslagers at the neighbourhood supermarkets of Carrefour, Comarkt, Delhaise and now also Okay City. Together with the Bon’Ap meal stores, the chain is part of the food company Meat&More. Buurtslagers has been known for its minced meat for decades, but also offers a varied range of meat preparations, cold cuts and ready-made meals.
