The supermarket chain Delhaize has announced plans to franchise out all the stores that it currently runs itself. The announcement that Delhaize that part of the international retail group Ahold Delhaize is to put all the stores that aren’t already franchised out to franchise was made during an extraordinary meeting of Delhaize’s Work’s Council on Tuesday morning.
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Delhaize to franchise out all the supermarkets it currently runs
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The majority of Delhaize stores are already franchised out. They operate under the brand names AD Delhaize, Proxy Delhaize and Shop & Go. A total of 636 stores that use the Delhaize name are run under franchise. There are currently 128 supermarkets in Belgium that are owned and operated by Delhaize itself. These will now be franchised out.
In a statement released on Tuesday morning Delhaize said "This is the only option if we are to be able to continue to invest in a sustainable future for Delhaize”.
The supermarket chain says that the stores that are run by franchisees have seen profitability increase, while the stores that it runs itself have seen their figures decline.
"We wish to place emphasis on local anchoring and entrepreneurship. By choosing this model we can adapt flexibly to a rapidly changing market”.
Delhaize says that there will be no job losses at its stores and that those currently working at the supermarkets that it runs in-house will keep their jobs once they are taken over by a franchisee. However, jobs will be lost at Delhaize’s headquarters in Zellik (Flemish Brabant), although the company does say that the number of people to be made redundant will be kept to an absolute minimum.
Unions: "An attack on staff”
Stores that are run by franchisees are able to operate more flexibly and more cheaply than the supermarkets that Delhaize runs in-house. The unions fear that pay and conditions will worsen once the store have been franchised out.
Wilson Wellens of the liberal trade union ACLVB told VRT News “This is a hard blow. 128 are being chucked out franchise. This is much worse than expected”. Jan De Weghe of the socialist white-collar union BBTK said that the announcement is “a bomb, an attack on the staff”. Although all existing staff will keep their jobs the unions fear that the conditions of employment will be worse under the franchisee.
Delhaize says that it wants talks with the unions to get under way as soon as possible.