Who are the buyers of the 21 additional Delhaize supermarkets?

Of the 21 new acquirers announced on Monday morning, eleven are already operating one or more others Delhaize-stores. Six are former employees and four are joining the company for the first time. An overview.

Well-known Delhaize family

Once again the list of acquirers contains some well-known names. A permanent fixture at Delhaize, for example, is the Hoeck family, which already operates supermarkets in Herselt, Lier (2) and Itegem. They will soon add Delhaize Sint-Katelijne-Waver to their portfolio.

Today we know Dieter Debaveye and Sara Coudron as the operators of AD Delhaize Opwijk. They will soon also add the supermarket in Dendermonde. Fabien Lepièce, manager of AD Delhaize ‘s-Gravenwezel, is responsible for Delhaize Bosuil. Gilles Verleyen already has two Proxy Delhaizes under his care and will soon also run the supermarket in Genval (Rixensart).

Geert Hontis, once owner of two Carrefour Express stores, has been a Delhaize franchisee in Beveren for three years. Together with Jeroen Hermans, a student friend, he will manage Delhaize Schoten.

No lack of experience

Thibault Raymakers already has Delhaize Shop&Go convenience stores Q8-petrol stations in Louvain-La-Neuve, Nivelles and Rixensart. Now it is time for a full-fledged supermarket: he takes over the branch in Jambes (Namur). Gilles Harvie is also a Shop&Go operator: he owns two, on Brugmannlaan and Fort Jaco (both in Brussels). However, he is now also adding the Fragnée supermarket, near the Liège-Guillemins train station.

Julien Bruno is also not lacking in experience: he worked for more than ten years at the Mestdagh group, including as a manager and as a Carrefour franchisee, then moved to Delhaize to become store director and has been running the AD Delhaize in Fontaine since January 2020. -l’Évêque from. He now also adds the nearby store in Morlanwelz. Bertrand Brolet, who takes over Delhaize from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (at the Pajot retail park), has also been a Delhaize franchisee for several years.

Manon Detry, a member of the family that also owns, is also no stranger Dufrais, the company that operates around eighty butcher departments in supermarkets including Carrefour and Delhaize and that also manages the Delhaizes in Hannuit and Hognoul. Delhaize Sart-Tilman (Seraing) has now been added.

Employees take the plunge

Other acquirers were not yet entrepreneurs, but were employees at Delhaize. Now they’re taking the plunge. This applies, for example, to Cédric Dufrane, who is a store manager and is now taking over the Delhaize in Shopping Hornu (Boussu). He previously gained retail experience at Carrefour and Brico. Or for Benoît Brusselmans, currently technical buildings coordinator at Delhaize, but soon to be the manager of Delhaize Keizer Karel, in the Basilix shopping center in Sint-Agatha-Berchem.

Another store manager, Mathew Verbruggen, takes over the Delhaize in Lokeren. He also gained experience at Lidl. Michael Crowin, store manager of Delhaize Mouscron, will now operate the store independently. He also worked on the side for almost five years AS Adventure.

Bashkim Karaljija has worked at Delhaize for more than eleven years, including as a store manager, district sales directorand currently as unit director. He will be the new manager of Delhaize Chazal in Schaarbeek, a store where protests against the franchising plans were fierce.

Deputy store managers become operators

Lisa Neuman is deputy store manager and takes charge of Delhaize Westland (Anderlecht) together with Martin Neuman. Glen Crispeels is also currently deputy store manager, but will soon be the manager of Delhaize Halle.

Antoine de Villepin has extensive experience in the retail and food sector: he worked at, among other things Le Bon Marche in Paris, at a chocolate manufacturer Newtreeat brewer John Martin and currently at Brussels Beer Project. Together with deputy store manager Olivier Latour, he takes over Delhaize Mozart in Uccle. Delhaize Enghien will in turn be operated by the former Tom & Co manager Jérôme Clément and Frédéric Chrétien.