Colruyt plans to cut 889 jobs after selling stores in France

Belgian retailer Colruyt announced on Monday, June 23, that a maximum of 889 employees were "likely to be made redundant for economic reasons" as part of the sale of its 104 stores in France. The Belgian retailer, established in France since 1998, employs nearly 2,300 people in France, primarily in the northeastern quarter.

Last week, the Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché retail group agreed to acquire 81 of these stores for a total of approximately €215 million. This acquisition project "involves the automatic transfer of 1,319 employees," Colruyt said in a press release on Monday.

But some 24 other stores (one of which is not open) "would not be taken over" , indicates Colruyt, which assures that it is conducting "an active search for additional buyers for the sites not taken over" and that "several expressions of interest (...) have been received" .

"In total, this would involve the elimination of 950 jobs," the Belgian group said. Of these, "the maximum number of employees likely to be made redundant for economic reasons would be 889," according to the press release.

The headquarters, located in Rochefort-sur-Nenon (Jura), is also not part of the takeover project of the Mousquetaires Group, the third largest player in the sector in France. "A job protection plan is being prepared with social partners," the Belgian brand added.

Last April, Colruyt Retail France mentioned "difficult conditions in the highly competitive French food distribution market" , stressing that "despite significant efforts to improve the profitability of its French activities, the expected results had not been achieved" .