Coop Netherlands has announced an 'excellent' H1 in 2018, which saw its turnover grow by 5.2%.
During the first half of the year, the retailer opened six new stores, including three city supermarkets under the Coop Vandaag banner in Groningen, Sittard, and Zwolle.
Coop Netherlands also sunk funds into the relocation, expansion or refurbishment of 20 existing supermarkets. The company said it plans to add an extra six new stores in the latter half of 2018.
Emté Acquisition
It will also commence the conversion of EMTÉ supermarkets to the Coop banner, after the acquisition was approved by the Dutch competition authority at the end of June. It expects to complete the conversion of at least 20 EMTÉ outlets by the end of 2018.
The approval of the deal saw the consortium of Jumbo and Coop Netherlands will take over EMTÉ Holding BV and its subsidiairies, following previous owner Sligro’s decision to offload the business.
Under the takeover plan, some 79 EMTÉ stores will fall under the Jumbo formula and 51 are to operate under the Coop banner. All stores are expected to be converted by the end of 2019.
The acquisition will give a 'strong impetus' to sales growth in 2018, Coop said.
The Dutch retailer also commented that its online growth was rising fast, partly due to the launch of its new convenient delivery app in April, and that it now has complete national coverage for online delivery.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
