Information AboutCarrefour |
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, French Polynesia ]] Carrefour SA () is an international Supermarket group, headquartered in France , with a global network of supermarkets. It is the second largest retail group in the world in terms of Revenue and sales figures after Wal-Mart . {Link without Title} The first Carrefour store opened on June 3 , 1957 , in the suburbs of Annecy near a Crossroads (''carrefour'' in French). As of today, this is the smallest Carrefour store in the world. The group was created by Marcel Fournier and Louis Defforey and grew into a network from this first sale's point. In 1999 it merged with Promodès , one of his major competitors on the French market. Marcel Fournier and Louis Defforey had assisted several seminars in the United States animated by "The Pope of modern distribution" Bernardo Trujillo (who had a major influence on other famous French executive like Edouard Leclerc (E.Leclerc), Gérard Mulliez (Auchan), Paul Dubrulle (Accor), and Gérard Pélisson (Accor)). Their slogan was "No parking, no business.". The Carrefour group pioneered the concept of a ("all under the same roof"). They opened the first hypermarket in 1962 in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois , near Paris in France . In April 1976 Carrefour removed branding from around fifty basic food products (oil, biscuits, milk, pastes...) and sold them at substantially lower prices. These ''Produits libres'', Free Products, caused a sensation. At the time this marketing strategy was considered by some in France to be "anti-capitalist". Jean Mothes, one of the executives of Perrier , wrote in "Investir" that Carrefour did much more to accelerate the swap to a Socialist -led government than Edmond Maire , Georges Marchais , François Mitterrand and Georges Séguy joined together. According to some this a Francophone line of thought that the natural instinct of capitalists is never to risk a profit margin by undermining the power of brands, according to other it was perceived easier at that time in France to beat the competition with political discurses than with a competitive advantage, according to a third group of people this was the result of a paranoïd vision of the political situation in many French executives minds. However according to others, this is only the delirium of the over-inflated ego of a borderline executive. It operates mainly in the European Union , Brazil and Argentina , but also has shops in North Africa and Asia . CARREFOUR AROUND THE WORLD IN JUNE 2005 Americas
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FORMER COUNTRIES Chile In 2004 , Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets in Chile to D&S . Czech Republic and Slovakia In September 2005 , Carrefour sold to Tesco (the biggest UK retailer) 11 stores in the Czech Republic and four in Slovakia . Tesco paid 57.4 million euros as well as its stores in Taiwan . Carrefour had opened its first store in 1998 in Czech Republic and in 2000 in Slovakia . Hong Kong In the late 1990's, Carrefour moved out of Hong Kong after complaints from manufacturers about selling products (especially electronics) at prices far below those its competitors had. Carrefour previously had stores in Tsuen Wan and Heng Fa Chuen. Japan In 2005, Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets. Mexico In March 2005 , Carrefour sold its 29 Hypermarkets in Mexico to Chedraui . Carrefour had opened its first store in 1995 in Mexico . United Kingdom Carrefour had several Hypermarkets in the UK until the 1980s. The first of these was opened in the early 1970s in Caerphilly , South Wales . The store was demolished and rebuilt as an ASDA Supermarket during the 1990s. Other Carrefour hypermarkets were located at Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham , West Midlands , Cribbs Causeway near Bristol , Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire , Swindon , the MetroCentre in Gateshead , Tyne & Wear , and at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre , Dudley , West Midlands . These stores were sold to Gateway (later Somerfield ) and have changed hands again. All are now ASDA Wal-Mart Supercentres, apart from the store at Merry Hill which is an ASDA Supermarket. United States Carrefour had Hypermarkets in Philadelphia and Berlin Township, New Jersey , for about five years. Both stores closed in 1993 . The stores charged $0.25USD for the use of a Shopping Cart . Some associates wore Roller Skates to facilitate moving about the large building. The Berlin location now houses a Kohl's department store, a Raymour And Flanigan furniture store, and a Marshalls discount clothing store. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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