NETWORK GROWTH
mS™"'" ,Almosl
In addition to driving comparable store sales, the Group is
active in organically growing its store network. In spite of
the portfolio optimization program at the beginning of 2012,
by which Delhaize Group announced that it was closing
a total of 146 stores and converting another 64, mostly in
the U.S. as part of the Food Lion repositioning work, the
Group nonetheless added 224 stores. This resulted in a net
increase of 43 stores for the Group as a whole. Two-thirds
of this growth occurred as part of the strong expansion
within Southeastern Europe and Indonesia where
153 stores were opened.
Affiliated stores
Leading the way for the Group with
89 new stores, Mega Image was
the most active operating company
within Delhaize Group and the most
dynamic retailer in Romania in 2012.
After having celebrated the opening
of its 100th store in 2011, Mega Image
came close to celebrating the 200th
store mark in 2012. In Indonesia,
Super Indo celebrated the opening
of its 100th store.
In addition to expanding in the
Group's newer markets, Delhaize
Group also pushed the further
expansion of new formats like
Bottom Dollar Food, its inno
vative discount concept in
the U.S. At the beginning
of 2012 Bottom Dollar
Food entered the Pitts
burgh market, opening 14
stores in 2 weeks and fin
ished the year with a total
of 56 stores. Red Market in
Belgium, comparable to Bot
tom Dollar Food from a format
perspective, opened 2 new stores
in 2012 and was operating 9 stores
by year-end.
Finally, the affiliated stores, also in
Belgium, are an important lever for
growth and in 2012 the Group had
24 new affiliates enter the Delhaize
Belgium network, of which 16 in
the Proxy format. These additions
increased the contribution of affili
ates in Belgium to more than 50%
of total sales. Entrepreneurs are
attracted by the historical strengths
of Delhaize Belgium, the solid repu
tation of the Delhaize brand, and
the prospects that both offer them
for the future.
FOOD LION
In 2012, the Delhaize Group activities in the
brandforemost focused on the
brand repositioning work at Food Lion After
ready for the future. "We've clearly reached a
tipping point. Looking at the performance nf th
repositioned stores it is clear that wTstabiS
with 5lmp and conver|ient supermarket
with an attractive assortment at affordable prices.
n!id1oc^ehrr(kJ^rnana^ernent ''stened, learned
and established new framework to tackle the
Lion Thk0 lntell'?ence and Planning for Food
Fnnduh thS brand Strategy Implementation
having to compromise on quality °Ut
