© BELGIUM
The management of the Match and Smatch store chains has not found a buyer for 19 of the 27 stores that are not taken over by Colruyt Group. At least 337 employees – in stores and central services – will lose their jobs, it was announced on Tuesday.
Tuesday January 2, 2024 at 3:23 PM
At the end of September it was announced that Colruyt Group will take over 57 Match and Smatch stores from operator Louis Delhaize. These stores (28 from Match and 29 from Smatch) would generate approximately 300 million euros in turnover in 2022. They had 1,069 employees.
A solution was still found for 7 of the remaining 27 stores (Binche, Fleurus, Kessel-Lo, Leuze, Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, Thulin and Zele), while negotiations are still ongoing about the Match store in Beaumont.
But 19 stores will close between mid-January and the end of March: Assenede, Cuesmes, Deerlijk, Eksaarde, Geldenaken, Haaltert, Jemappes, Kalken, Kluisbergen, Knesselaere, Maldegem, Mechelen, Moerbeke, Mouscron, Stembert, Tienen, Waasmunster, Zeveneken and Zulte. “The 163 employees who work in these stores will be able to benefit from the social plan that was negotiated on December 1,” said a press release on Monday.
Discussions are still ongoing about a possible takeover of the logistics activities, but “no buyer has shown interest in taking over the activities of the other central services,” it said. “The 174 employees working in these departments have been informed of the statutory notice period, closure compensation and early retirement agreements to which they are entitled. In the meantime, supporting measures and relocation options have already been developed.”