Carrefour Express, the convenience formula of Carrefour, blows out 25 candles in Belgium. The first store opened its doors as GB Express, but since then the chain has grown beyond 300 branches.
In 1997, the first GB Express neighborhood supermarket opened in the Brussels municipality of Sint-Agatha-Berchem. That same year, the opening of a second Express supermarket in the South Station in Brussels accounted for two firsts in one fell swoop: operator Manu Visart became the group’s first ever franchise partner and it was also the first store in a Belgian station.
“It was a whole adventure. When I came up with the plan for the future development of the South Station in Brussels as a young freelancer, I was rejected by GB, which saw no future in the idea of creating a supermarket in a station,” says Visart. The railways also preferred to reserve the commercial spaces for restaurants.
At the turn of the Year, The Express franchise formula had 311 Belgian stores. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Carrefour is still organizing a birthday month in stores until October 2nd with all kinds of promotions and gifts. In september, for example, a gift basket with products can be won every day per store.
