Supermarket concern Albert Heijn is opening its first store in Germany on September 12, with a second to follow within a few weeks, the company said on Tuesday.

The first store, an AH To Go, will open in Aken; the second in Essen.
The move into Germany is part of Albert Heijn’s strategy of extending its overseas operations. It has already opened six Albert Heijn supermarkets in Belgium. It aims to have 150 AH To Go stores in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany by 2017. The Netherlands currently has 50 of these small stores.
At present, the company is restricting its expansion to towns and cities that can be serviced from its distribution centre in Tilburg.