Cora Anderlecht to become a shopping centre, all jobs saved

A soon-to-be closed down Cora hypermarket in Anderlecht is set to be converted into a shopping centre next year, saving all of the jobs affected.

Cora Anderlecht, opposite Decathlon in a vast shopping space near Eddie Merckx metro station, will be renovated in 2026, real estate developer Mitiska REIM, in charge of the project, has said.

All the store’s 180 employees, threatened with redundancy when Cora said it would close all of its stores earlier this year, will be able to find jobs in the new shopping centre.

The new stores built will use Cora’s former employees as a priority and 40 new jobs will be created, Anderlecht mayor Fabrice Cumps (Socialist) confirmed.

Anderlecht residents will still be able to use the site’s underground car park after closing time to go to nearby sports clubs and relieve pressure on car parks around the Neerpede.

Renovation of the Cora site will be in three phases. In the first phase, new branches of Delhaize and Dreamland – which is also opening a store at the former Cora Woluwe and five more in Wallonia – will open their doors. Then the rest of the site will be renovated and new tenants will move in.

Furniture store JYSK and non-food chain Extra Shop have also signed contracts to open shops in the centre. Other occupiers of the former Cora space, as yet unknown, will include shoe and clothing stores.

The first two phases of the development should be completed next year and cost €12 million. In a final phase, the facade of the building will be refurbished.

Following the renovation, more or less all the merchandise available in the former Cora hypermarket should be on sale in the new site - food and non-food.

Mitiska REIM, described as “Europe’s leading specialist investor in convenience real estate” such as retail parks and self-storage projects, also promises an “opportunity” for children and young people to play and meet.

In short, a large part of what was one of Cora’s biggest stores will be reserved for, in the developer’s words, the “pleasure” of visitors.

In addition, talks are continuing on a possible name change for the site, which had once been considered by former RSCA Anderlecht football club chair and Belgian entrepreneur Wouter Vandenhaute as a potential new stadium home.