The Belgium-based company Delhaize Group has announced it is going to shut down six stores from the Piccadilly retail chain in Bulgaria.

Delhaize is also going to shut down the only Tempo hypermarket in Bulgaria, which is located in Sofia, by the end of 2012.

The Belgian group is undertaking a plan to optimize its portfolio, which provides for closing a total of 146 stores with unsatisfactory results in Europe and the USA, and for transforming another 64 stores.

Thus, in addition to the Tempo hypermarket in Sofia, by the end of 2012, Delhaize is going to do away with one Piccadilly store in each of the following Bulgarian cities: Ruse, Stara Zagora, Yambol, Varna, and Plovdiv, as well as one Piccadilly Express store in Plovdiv.

As a result of the closures, 99 people will be laid off even though those working in Plovdiv and Varna will be offered to be relocated to another facility.

At the same time, however, Delhaize Bulgaria has confirmed that it will continue to open new stores.

"Our actions will strengthen our market performance, and will allow us to focus on our strategy of successful and profitable growth," the COO of Delhaize Bulgaria Erikyan Lantink said in a media statement.

Delhaize has a total of 38 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Express, and Tempo stores in Bulgaria, and employs more than 2 600 people.

In April 2011, the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission (CPC) gave the green light to the acquisition of a 100% stake in Serbian Delta Maxi Group, owner of the Piccadilly retail store chain operating in Bulgaria, by Belgium-based company Delhaize. The deal price was EUR 932.5 M along with net debt of around EUR 300 M