Albert Heijn Bilzen becomes Peeters-Govers’ 19th store

Albert Heijn has opened its 89th Belgian store in Bilzen. For franchisee Peeters-Govers, it is the nineteenth outlet under the brand. The opening on Wednesday 14 October 2026 not only expands the supermarket chain’s presence in Limburg, but also illustrates how a franchise operator can build a network of stores within a single brand.

Bilzen brings Limburg to fifteen stores

The new supermarket in Bilzen is the fifteenth Albert Heijn in the Belgian province of Limburg. It expands the existing Belgian store network to 89 locations.

Raf Van den Heuvel, General Manager of Albert Heijn Belgium, describes Limburg as a strong region for the chain and sees further room for growth. With the Bilzen store, Albert Heijn aims to bring its offering closer to customers in the area.

The opening also has a second significance: it expands an existing franchisee’s portfolio. Peeters-Govers now operates nineteen stores under the same brand. For Belgium’s franchise community, Bilzen is therefore not just a story about a new supermarket, but also about further growth within an established franchise relationship.

The distinction between the two figures matters. The 89 stores represent Albert Heijn’s entire Belgian network; the nineteen outlets are those operated by Peeters-Govers under the brand. The number of Belgian stores should therefore not be confused with the number of individual franchise operators.

Multiple outlets under the same brand

Peeters-Govers’ development is a concrete example of multi-unit franchising: one franchise operator builds up several outlets within the same franchise system. This can take place under a single franchise agreement or through successive agreements with the same franchisor.

For those who mainly associate franchising with running a single local shop, the nineteenth outlet offers a different perspective. A first store does not necessarily have to be the end point of a business plan. It can also become part of a larger portfolio within the same brand.

That does not mean every prospective franchisee can or should follow the same growth path. The Bilzen opening demonstrates the scale Peeters-Govers has reached, but is not in itself a benchmark for the pace or size of expansion that would suit another operator.

The relevant question for prospective franchisees is therefore not simply how many stores a franchise network has. It is equally important to establish what scope the relationship offers for expansion into multiple outlets. Anyone with that ambition would be well advised to raise it during initial discussions, without taking a subsequent opening for granted.

Two more Belgian openings announced

According to the announced schedule, Bilzen will not be Albert Heijn’s last Belgian opening in 2026. An Albert Heijn XL in Machelen is due to follow within two weeks of the announcement dated 17 October. A supermarket in Lommel is also planned for December.

If both announced openings go ahead, the chain will end the year with 91 Belgian stores. That remains a projection: at the time of the Bilzen opening, the network comprises 89 outlets.

The planned stores place Bilzen within Albert Heijn’s wider expansion in Belgium. At the same time, the specific significance of this opening for franchising lies with Peeters-Govers: an established operator is adding a nineteenth location to its portfolio. The announced growth of the national network and the expansion of this franchisee are therefore two distinct developments within the same brand.

What prospective franchisees can discuss in advance

For prospective franchisees, Bilzen is above all a prompt to define their own ambitions more clearly. Is the aim to manage one store day to day, or to operate several locations over time? That choice deserves a place in discussions about the franchise relationship.

Careful preparation for the initial agreement is also essential. The mandatory pre-contractual information document, known by its Dutch abbreviation PID, must be provided at least one month before signing, as required by Book X of Belgium’s Code of Economic Law.

Practical takeaway: discuss any ambition to operate multiple outlets with the franchisor early on. Use Peeters-Govers’ example as a starting point for focused questions, not as a promise of a similar growth path.