Colruyt Group has doubled the number of its dedicated professional wholesale stores in Belgium to ten after opening a new site in Hoboken, Antwerp, on 12 November 2026.

The opening completes a five-store expansion during 2026 and marks a significant step in the retailer’s effort to build a larger business supplying independent shops, hospitality operators, resellers and other professional food buyers.

Colruyt Professionals is a self-service wholesale format for business customers rather than a conventional supermarket. Its stores prioritise large packs, bulk purchasing, pallet collection and early opening hours to accommodate traders buying stock for resale or preparing for the day’s foodservice demand.

The tenth site at Mazoutweg 7 in Hoboken follows the opening of another Antwerp-area store in Deurne. Together they extend the group’s presence in a market where small neighbourhood shops, night shops and hospitality businesses need frequent access to products without relying exclusively on scheduled wholesale deliveries.

The scale of the expansion is notable. Colruyt began testing the Professionals concept in the Brussels area in 2020. Six years later it has doubled the network in just one calendar year, rather than relying solely on its established supermarket stores to serve business customers.

What changes for professional buyers? The Hoboken store operates from 6.30am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday, and is restricted to business customers holding a Professionals Plus card. The format has wide aisles and flat-bed trolleys designed for larger quantities, together with van-friendly parking and a loading platform for pallets.

Products are offered in larger pack sizes, in bulk and by pallet. A separate tobacco area serves registered resellers. These operational details are important for independent grocery operators because wholesale purchasing can be constrained as much by loading access, opening hours and pack formats as by headline prices.

Colruyt Group says the dedicated network also relieves pressure on its ordinary supermarkets. Moving large-volume professional purchases away from consumer shopping aisles can improve the experience for households while creating a more suitable supply channel for small businesses.

The retailer is developing several routes to market: customers can shop directly in Colruyt Professionals or Colruyt Lowest Prices stores, arrange collection, or obtain delivery through the wider group’s Solucious foodservice distribution operation. The formats are complementary rather than identical; a café taking a regular delivery has different needs from a corner shop replenishing stock on the same morning.

Colruyt Lowest Prices managing director Jo Willemyns has described B2B supply as an important growth pillar for the group. He said businesses need nearby locations, suitable ranges, volume availability and competitive prices. The announcement did not disclose the wholesale division’s revenue, capital investment or profitability.

An additional indicator of demand emerged in reporting by Belgian trade publication RetailDetail, which interviewed Willemyns at the opening. He said that, in areas where a Professionals store opens, roughly 30% of customers are transferred from existing Colruyt stores while 70% are new to the business. Those figures describe the company’s stated local customer mix, not audited national market share.

That distinction matters to suppliers. If most business customers are genuinely new rather than simply diverted from the supermarket estate, the format could create additional distribution opportunities for beverage, snack, frozen-food and ambient-grocery manufacturers. But Colruyt has not published SKU-level growth, supplier sales or average basket figures from the new stores.

For independent retailers, the competition extends beyond conventional cash-and-carry depots. Convenient access to wholesale stock can influence replenishment frequency, inventory holding costs and the ability to respond to demand without over-ordering. The strategy strengthens Colruyt’s position in the broader Belgian grocery market, where supermarket chains and smaller local formats serve overlapping customers through different supply models.

Colruyt’s approach also highlights a commercial distinction between consumer private-label ranges and professional supply. Business buyers may prioritise case quantities, foodservice formats, dependable availability and delivery or collection terms. A product that sells well to households is not automatically packaged appropriately for resale or a restaurant kitchen.

With ten stores now operating, the question is whether the wholesale network will continue expanding beyond its 2026 target. The group has reached the milestone it announced, but has not confirmed a further store count or timetable. Future openings, customer retention and supplier participation will show how far the B2B proposition can grow.

Editor’s Note: This report is based on Colruyt Group’s announcement of 12 November 2026, its published Professionals store information and independently reported comments from RetailDetail. The analysis distinguishes confirmed store expansion from commercial opportunities that have not yet been quantified by the retailer.