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OKay opens brand-new sustainable local supermarket in Deerlijk
22
January
2020
On Friday 24 January, OKay opens its 135th store along Vichtesteenweg in Deerlijk. In the practical local supermarket, customers can find everything for quick, cheap and easy shopping. The store covers 650 m² and is built with sustainable techniques and material. Ten co-workers can start working there. Store manager Sofie Dekimpe and her team are happy to invite local residents to the opening reception on Thursday 23 January from 6 to 8 pm for a snack, a drink and a guided tour.
Easily accessible
The new OKay store is located near the E17 slip roads between Ghent and Kortrijk. It is also directly connected with the Ringlaan. "Thanks to an excellent location between the village centre of Deerlijk and these communications, many customers can easily reach the store", says store manager Sofie Dekimpe. "They can find a spacious car park with a charging post for electric cars and sufficient facilities for people riding a bike."
Fresh and modern design
Local supermarket OKay Deerlijk belongs to Colruyt Group's new generation of OKay stores and has a fresh and modern design. Sofie Dekimpe: "Our broad range of daily fresh fruit and vegetables will stand out well in there."
The supply of ultra-fresh products is one of OKay's assets: fruit and vegetables, dairy products, meat, cold cuts, fish and ready-to-eat meals. Fresh bread in the bread corner every day, and the co-workers bake high-quality rolls and buns in the oven. "We offer a varied mix of national brands, our private label Boni Selection and our discount brand Everyday", the store manager explains. "And we have a handy 'Easy Cooking' counter with inspiration and all the ingredients to prepare seasonal dishes every day."
Minimum ecological footprint
Like the other Colruyt Group stores, it is very important to OKay to build sustainably with a minimum ecological footprint. "In OKay Deerlijk we do not use fossil energy", says Sofie Dekimpe. "We recover the heat released from the refrigeration and retrieve 75% of the heat we need from the air. The store is well-insulated thermally and equipped with sustainable techniques. The LED lighting consumes 30 % less electricity and the refrigeration system works on propane, a natural coolant that is much environment-friendlier than chemical coolants. It reduces CO₂ emission by 90 % compared to a classic boiler.
We also dug a wadi, a kind of shallow basin to collect rainwater from the roof and car park and allow it to seep into the ground slowly."
Opening reception
From Friday 24 January, store manager Sofie Dekimpe and her team will welcome their customers at new local supermarket OKay Deerlijk.
Sofie Dekimpe: "The day before, on Thursday 23 January between 6 and 8 pm, we organise a reception to celebrate the official inauguration. All neighbours and future customers are welcome for a store preview."
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About OKay
OKay is Colruyt Group’s local supermarket format. Customers can find everything they need there. OKay stores are set up near town or city centres and guarantee the lowest prices in the neighbourhood. OKay opened its very first store on 14 January 1998 in Ertvelde and has since then been opening an average of 6 new stores every year. They intend to keep up this frequency in the years to come. Today, OKay has about 140 stores in Belgium. Since November 2015, the chain also has its own distribution centre at the industrial estate of Lot (Beersel) in Flemish Brabant. OKay currently employs more than 2,500 co-workers.