OKay opens brand-new, sustainable local supermarket in Ham

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

On Friday 8 July, OKay will open its 145^th store in Ham. In the practical local supermarket at the Olmensesteenweg 19, customers can find everything to do their daily shopping quickly, inexpensively, and conveniently. The shop covers 596 m² and is built with sustainable techniques and materials. Store manager Els Huls and her team of 9 are happy to invite local residents to come and discover their new local supermarket.

Fresh and modern design

OKay Ham is the 145th OKay store in Belgium. The local supermarket is part of Colruyt Group's new generation of OKay stores and has a fresh and modern design. "In the freshmart, the broad passage and glass wall ensure a pleasant shopping experience. Our extensive range of day-fresh fruit and vegetables will stand out nicely there." The range of fresh products is one of OKay's biggest assets: not only fruit and vegetables, but also dairy products, meat, sliced cold meat, fish and ready-to-eat meals. "We also placed a stand just outside the freshmart, that offers a wide range of meat, fish and veggie snacks to spend a nice aperitif evening with friends."

At OKay Ham, fresh bread is delivered every day and the co-workers bake off high-quality rolls and pastries several times a day. All these delicious products are presented in a handy bread rack. Els: "Our bread corner is organised very ergonomically and well-arranged and thus very user-friendly, both for our customers and our co-workers." In the frozen products department, there are chest-type freezers with glass lids. That way, customers can find their favourite products fast and easily.

Easily reachable

The new OKay store is located at the Olmensesteenweg 19, one of the most important access roads to the centre of Ham and can easily reached by car. "At the same time, we are within biking and walking distance of the centre. In other words, the store is ideally located for anyone who likes to leave the car on the side every now and then", Ella says.

"There is sufficient parking space and a charging post with two charging points has been installed. Customers who come by bicycle can use the spacious bicycle shed, which also has room for cargo bicycles."

Minimal environmental impact

Just like the other Colruyt Group store formats, OKay is firmly committed to building sustainably and with a minimal ecological footprint. "At OKay Ham, we don't use gas or fuel oil, so the store is 100% fossil fuel free", Els explains. “We generate our own energy by means of solar panels. In addition, our cooling system works on propane, a natural alternative that is much more environmentally friendly than chemical coolants. This reduces the CO2 emission of the refrigeration process by 90 % compared to a traditional cooling unit.”

Our store has a green roof that purifies the air and stimulates biodiversity. Moreover, a large share of the rainwater is collected in a wadi, a shallow water basin, in which the water can steadily seep into the ground, to replenish the soil water. This also relieves the sewer system.

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Contactinformation
​Store
​011 82 41 23
​www.okay.be/ham

Colruyt Group Press Service
​+32 (0)473 92 45 10 or +32 (0)2 363 55 45
​press@colruytgroup.com

Practical information
​OKay Ham
​Olmensesteenweg 19
​3945 Ham

Opening hours
​Monday to Saturday
​from 8.30 am to 7.30 pm.

About OKay
​OKay is Colruyt Group’s local supermarket format. Customers can find everything they need there. OKay stores are set up near town or city centres and guarantee the lowest prices in the neighbourhood. OKay opened its very first store on 14 January 1998 in Ertvelde and has since then been opening an average of 6 new stores every year. They intend to keep up this frequency in the years to come. Today, OKay has about 140 stores in Belgium. Since November 2015, the chain also has its own distribution centre at the industrial estate of Lot (Beersel) in Flemish Brabant. OKay currently employs more than 2,500 co-workers.