Bruno Foodcorner withdraws from West and East Flanders

The Limburg-based Bruno family of entrepreneurs is closing its lunch bars at train stations in West and East Flanders. They want to focus on growth in Flemish Brabant and Antwerp.

© Bruno Foodcorner.

Group Bruno has announced that it will close the Bruno Foodcorner lunch bars in the NMBS stations of Sint-Niklaas, Bruges, Roeselare, and Ghent-Dampoort starting September 15th. Actively seeking a buyer for these locations is underway. This marks the departure of the entrepreneurial family from its plan to roll out the lunch chain throughout Flanders. The focus is now on growth in Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Earlier this year, Bruno Group acquired nine gas stations from the Celis group in those provinces. In Limburg, the group's home province, the Bruno name is a household name.

"In 2020, we opened our first Bruno Foodcorner in an SNCB train station in Genk, with a concept focused on fast food service and takeaway. In the years that followed, locations in East and West Flanders followed. Despite the dedication of our teams, we noticed that the dynamics and clientele in these stations were less suited to our Bruno concept," says Angelo Bruno of Group Bruno. "We therefore decided to refocus our strategy and continue our growth elsewhere."

The Bruno Group is refocusing on its core business: gas stations.

According to the family, the closure of the four lunch bars doesn't change their broader ambitions. The goal is still to have 50 Bruno Foodcorner locations by 2030. After the closure of the four locations, that number will drop to 25. "This isn't a step backward, but a reorientation to grow more strongly," says Angelo Bruno. "From Limburg, we're gradually expanding into Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. These regions are a better fit for our existing network and offer us the opportunity to further strengthen our brand awareness. Eventually, we also want to reopen in East and West Flanders."

"The Bruno Group is refocusing on its core business: gas stations. Thanks to electrification, consumers are spending more time there, but visiting less frequently – a change that is redefining needs and creating new opportunities for gas station operators," says Amaury Marescaux, CEO of Gondola Foodservice.