The Carrefour market Geraardsbergen in the Denderland shopping center is closing. – News

Gerardsbergen. On Monday, August 28, the 11 employees of the Carrefour Gerardsbergen market in the Dunderland shopping center in the Sonnbloemstraat received advance notice. After 37 years, the store is closing its doors. The employees were invited to a meeting last week and told the bad news.

The blow hit hard. The staff is still subdued. It is not yet known when the store will close. “I’ve been working here for 37 years. We got the terrible news last week as an announcement. Yesterday there was a letter in the mail with advance notice,” says one frustrated employee. Many customers were shocked by the news, but once they recovered from the surprise, they understood why: “I’ve seen fewer customers lately. Many people go to retail warehouses in Astridlaan or continue to Colruyt. However, I think it’s very unfortunate, because the upper part of Geraardsbergen no longer has a department store,” he says. One enthusiastic customer “I will miss the store, because you can shop here in peace without crowds or long lines at the checkout.”

We asked the store manager for an explanation, but he was forbidden to speak. He referred us to the press officer, but he was not aware of this and was unable to speak to us.

When the Dunderland Shopping Center began in the 1980s, an innovative store-cum-restaurant concept was a success in Gerardsbergen. Shops and shoppers have eagerly found their way to the top of the Zonnebloemstraat. And soon the success faded away. More often than not, retail properties become vacant. The shopping center has changed owners regularly.

Renovations in 2008 brought little relief. In 2018, a real estate company from Ghent acquired the site and wanted to decorate the building. The building has been renovated and given a fresher look. There were plans to demolish the building and build a new building with seven shops and apartments. But five years later, none of that is noticeable.

With the Carrefour Gerrardsbergen market gone, the Dunderland shopping center is even more dilapidated. In 2020, Carrefour opened a branch on Oudenaardsestraat in the city center of Gerardsbergen. Many people from downtown find their way to the department store.

Julian Borremans