The introduction of self-service and the supermarket in Belgium (1945–1975): The soft underbelly of Europe?

Abstract

This article evaluates how self-service shopping and the supermarket format were introduced in postwar Belgium. Compared to other European countries, this happened quite late. The main locomotives were the country's four major distribution chains. Their leading role can be connected to the involvement of their managers in transfer of retail expertise from the US to Western Europe, clearly preceding governmental efforts to increase retail productivity by promoting the American model. Family-based shopkeeping was deeply rooted in Belgium's predominantly Catholic societal culture. Forging a compromise policy on the modernisation of retail proved to be quite a challenge. In the 1960s government enabled the further expansion of big distribution but also tried to mitigate the transition by stimulating the modernization of independent retail through consultancy and professional training. It also fostered the growth of a so-called 'independent associated retail sector' through franchising and other cooperative networks. At first, this policy seemed to offer viable perspectives. In the early 1970s, however, Belgium witnessed a remarkable upsurge of shopkeeper protest, in part triggered by the concentration of big distribution and the growing impact of its hypermarkets. To guarantee a durable balance between big and small a new legal framework on retail establishment was introduced.