Delhaize Serbia will reorganize its retail network by opening 20 and renovating 40 stores, closing seven Mini Maxi stores and changing the Tempo Express format to Maxi, the company announced Thursday.

Delhaize Serbia, which currently employs 10,888 people, will hire 600 new workers as its opens 20 new stores over the course of the year, while Mini Maxi stores in Mrcajevci, Kragujevac, Baljevac, Vranje and three stores in Sabac will be closed in the next six months, the company told Tanjug.

The employees of the stores set to close were offered posts in other Delhaize Serbia stores, wherever possible. Closing unprofitable and opening new stores will save the company money, which Delhaize Serbia plans to reinvest in the Serbian market, which will primarily benefit the consumers, said David Vander Schueren, Delhaize Group Director for Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Since July 2011, when Delhaize took over the Maxi and Tempo retail chains, Delhaize Serbia has created several hundred jobs, the company reminds. Delhaize Group announced Thursday it plans to optimize its retail network in all world markets where it operates.

AFP reported earlier today that Belgian food retailer Delhaize announced on Thursday that it will axe around 5,000 jobs in the U.S. and close nearly 20 stores in eastern Europe due to a slump in its revenues in the last quarter of 2011. The company will cut around 4,900 jobs in the U.S. and close almost 113 shops. It will also close supermarkets and hypermarkets in Serbia, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina, thereby shedding around 100 jobs.

In early March 2011, Delhaize Group acquired Serbian retail chain Delta Maxi for EUR 932.5 million.