Albert Heijn didn’t get a permit, now he wants a jumbo supermarket… (yellow)

Will the Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo, whose biggest competitor, Albert Heijn, did not succeed after an earlier attempt: opening a store in Geel? Jumbo applied anyway for an environmental permit to build an entirely new store in the driveway. The location is amazing: the department store will be next to the Aldi supermarket and right in front of the Carrefour entrance.

The total retail area is 1,800 square metres, of which 1,500 square metres serves as real retail space. The supermarket will be equipped with a bakery and a butcher section. Opening the store will entail hiring 42 people.

community attitudes

However, the striking aspect of the permit application is the expansion of the large parking lot behind the retail building. “This will be a spacious, multifunctional car park for 122 vehicles, which will be available to the public seven days a week, 24 hours a day,” says the customer. “Car parks are accessible to supermarket customers and third parties, both during and outside of supermarket opening hours. Thus, a car park with eight fast charging stations for electric vehicles is also useful for visitors to the Gill Center and for visitors to the OPZ Basic Psychiatric Institution (General Psychiatric Care Foundation, ed.). A soft pass is also planned to the OPZ. Thus, the parking lot is at the service of the community.”

This warning is not unimportant. The entire site is located partly in a residential area, and partly in an area for communal and public amenities. The commercial building will be built in a residential area, and the parking lot in the communal facilities area. In the app, the customer also draws as a trump card that the supermarket will be located within the Ring Road, and not as a new “track shop” on Antwerpseweg via the roundabout with Ringlaan.

The Dutch chain wants to grow rapidly in Belgium. Jumbo currently has six stores in our country, one of which is in Rijkevorsel. The following week, two more new branches will open in Zedelgem in West Flanders and Zonhoven in Limburg. A public inquiry into Jumbo’s construction plans in Gill began on Friday and will continue through July 24.