Carrefour facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as | Euronext Paris: CA CAC 40 Component |
| ISIN | ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=FR0000120172 FR0000120172] |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1 January 1958 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters |
Massy, Essonne
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France
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Number of locations
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 14,000 stores (2024) France: 5,619 Italy: 1,489 Spain: 1,474 Turkey: 1,250 Belgium: 792 Poland 755 Brazil: 508 Argentina: 485 Romania: 365 Taiwan: 328 Israel: 50 French territories and the Dominican Republic: 180 Other: 1,525Retail network hypermarkets: 1,130 supermarkets: 3,574 convenience: 8,642 cash and carry: 440soft discount: 108 |
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Area served
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Europe, Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia, South America |
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Key people
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| Services | Cash and carry, warehouse club, discount store, hypermarket, supercenter, superstore, supermarket |
| Revenue |
€81.25 billion (2021) 35.28 billion (France) 21.28 billion (Europe) 13.89 billion (Latam) 2.49 billion (Taiwan) |
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Operating income
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€2.27 billion (2021) 768 million (Latam) 757 million (France) 718 million (Europe) 78 million (Taiwan) ▲ -49 million (global functions) |
| €1.07 billion (2021) |
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| Total assets | €47.67 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | €11.83 billion (2021) |
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Number of employees
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Carrefour Group, S.A. is a big French company that sells groceries and other products. Its main office is in Massy, France. Carrefour runs many different types of stores, like huge hypermarkets, regular grocery stores, and smaller convenience stores. By 2024, Carrefour had 14,000 stores in 40 countries around the world. It is one of the largest retailers globally based on how much money it makes.
Contents
History of Carrefour
The very first Carrefour store opened in 1960 in a town called Annecy in France. It was located near a crossroads, which is why it was named "Carrefour" – that word means "crossroads" in French! The company was started in 1958 by Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey, and Jacques Defforey. They got ideas from business talks in the United States.
Carrefour was the first company in Europe to open a "hypermarket." This is a super-large store that combines a big supermarket with a department store (selling clothes, electronics, etc.) all under one roof. Their first hypermarket opened on June 15, 1963, near Paris.
In September 2009, Carrefour changed its logo to a new design.
In 2011, Carrefour decided to invest a lot of money to improve its stores in Western Europe. They wanted to make their supermarkets more modern and appealing.
In June 2017, Alexandre Bompard became the new boss of Carrefour. He is both the chairman and the chief executive officer.
In January 2018, Alexandre Bompard announced a new plan called "Carrefour 2022." This plan aimed to make Carrefour a leader in providing better and more sustainable food. It included ideas like reducing food waste, selling more organic products, and improving online shopping.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carrefour was the first retailer to share extra money it earned to help people who were struggling. The company also reduced its planned dividend for 2019. Alexandre Bompard and other leaders gave up part of their pay to help employees in France and other countries. Alexandre Bompard also gave a special bonus of €1,000 to 85,000 employees in France to thank them for their hard work.
Carrefour's Money Matters
Carrefour is a very large company, and its financial numbers show how big it is. In 2021, the company's total sales were about €81.25 billion. They had a net income (profit) of about €1.07 billion in the same year. Carrefour also had many employees, with about 319,565 people working for the company in 2021.
Carrefour in France
Carrefour's main office is in Massy, France. In France, Carrefour has many different types of stores:
- Over 230 hypermarkets, which are very large stores.
- 1,020 Carrefour Market supermarkets, which are medium-sized grocery stores.
- Over 2,000 smaller stores like Carrefour City, Carrefour Contact, and Carrefour Express, which are convenience stores.
Carrefour also owns the Promocash chain, which is for businesses buying in bulk. They also supply many small independent food stores. Recently, Carrefour bought organic food chains like SoBio and Bio C'Bon to sell more organic products.
In 2019, Carrefour started testing new "Supeco" discount stores in northern France.
In December 2023, Carrefour and Uber teamed up. Uber invested money so its electric car drivers could charge their vehicles at Carrefour Énergies stations in France.
Carrefour Around the World
By 2024, Carrefour had 14,000 stores in 40 countries.
Africa
Kenya
Carrefour has 28 stores in Kenya, mostly in the suburbs of Nairobi. Carrefour grew quickly in Kenya because other big supermarket chains there had problems and closed down. Carrefour took over their store locations and customers.
Uganda
Carrefour also has several stores in Kampala and Entebbe, Uganda. In September 2021, Carrefour took over six stores from another retailer, which greatly increased its presence in Uganda. As of 2023, there are seven Carrefour stores in Uganda.
West and Central Africa In 2013, Carrefour started working with the CFAO Group to open stores in West and Central Africa. The first hypermarket opened in Abidjan in 2015, and another one is in Yaoundé.
East and South Asia
Pakistan
In 2009, Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in Lahore, Pakistan. It was very popular, attracting over a million customers each month. In 2018, Carrefour rebranded its stores in Pakistan under the Carrefour name. The company plans to open more stores in other cities. As of June 2019, Carrefour had invested a lot of money in Pakistan and planned to invest even more.
Taiwan
In 2020, Carrefour Taiwan bought 199 Wellcome stores and 25 Jasons Market Place stores. In 2022, Carrefour sold 60% of its shares in Carrefour Taiwan to another company.
Mongolia
On February 17, 2023, Carrefour opened its first two stores in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. As of March 2025, it has thirteen stores there.
Europe (outside France)
In 1991, Carrefour started a company in Turkey and opened its first hypermarket in Istanbul in 1993. In 1996, they partnered with a Turkish company, and all stores became known as CarrefourSA. As of 2025, there are 1,500 CarrefourSA stores in Turkey.
Carrefour also entered the Greek market in 1999. They stopped operating there in 2017 but reopened in May 2022.
In 2001, Carrefour entered the Romanian market and became one of the top retailers there, with 43 stores.
The company operates in Spain as Centros Comerciales Carrefour SA. Carrefour Spain is one of the most important companies in Spain by revenue.
Carrefour returned to Bulgaria in 2022 after being absent for eight years. As of June 2024, there are stores in Varna, Sofia, and Burgas.
West Asia
The Majid Al Futtaim Group has managed Carrefour stores in the Middle East and North Africa since 1995. As of 2020, they operate over 320 Carrefour stores in 16 countries.
Iran
In February 2009, Majid Al Futtaim opened its first Carrefour store in Iran.
Iraq
Majid al Futtaim opened the first Carrefour in Erbil, Iraq, in 2011. There are also stores in Sulaymaniyah and, as of June 2024, in Baghdad.
Israel
In March 2022, Carrefour signed a deal to rebrand existing Israeli grocery stores as Carrefour branches. In July 2023, Carrefour stated that it would not open branches in the West Bank.
Lebanon
In April 2013, a Carrefour hypermarket opened in Beirut, Lebanon. More Carrefour stores have opened in Lebanon since then, including smaller supermarket formats.
United Arab Emirates
On March 1, 2022, Carrefour opened its first "Bio" store (selling organic products) in Dubai.
Jordan
Carrefour had stores in Jordan, but the company announced they would close these branches in November 2024. The stores were then rebranded as HyperMax.
Oman
Carrefour also had stores in Oman, but they announced these would close in January 2025. These stores were also rebranded as HyperMax.
South America
Around 605 Carrefour stores were operating in Argentina as of 2021.
Carrefour Brasil, which started in 1975, is the biggest supermarket chain in Brazil.
Carrefour Dominican Republic opened its first store in 2000. It has expanded to five stores by 2023, including smaller Carrefour Market and Carrefour City stores. Carrefour is a popular supermarket choice there because of its products and good prices.
Past International Operations
Carrefour has operated in many countries over the years but has also left some of them. Here are a few examples:
- Austria: Carrefour opened a store in 1976 but it closed soon after.
- Chile: Carrefour had six supermarkets between 1998 and 2003 but sold them.
- China: Carrefour entered China in 1995. In 2019, Carrefour sold most of its shares in China and left the market.
- Colombia: In October 2012, Carrefour sold all 72 of its stores in Colombia to another retailer.
- Cyprus: In 2017, all Carrefour stores were sold to a Greek supermarket brand.
- Czech Republic: In 2005, Carrefour sold its eleven stores to Tesco.
- Germany: Carrefour had only one store in Germany, which opened in 1977 and was sold in 1979.
- Hong Kong: Carrefour closed its stores in Hong Kong in 2000.
- India: Carrefour operated wholesale stores in India. In July 2014, Carrefour announced it would close its Indian operations. However, Carrefour plans to re-enter the Indian market in 2025.
- Indonesia: Carrefour opened its first store in Indonesia in 1998. In 2012, Carrefour Indonesia was bought by CT Corp, and by 2020, all remaining stores were rebranded.
- Japan: Carrefour opened its first store in Japan in 2000. In 2003, Carrefour sold its stores to AEON Group.
- Kazakhstan: The only Carrefour hypermarket in Almaty closed in 2017.
- Malaysia: Carrefour entered Malaysia in 1994 and sold its 26 hypermarkets in 2012.
- Mexico: In 2005, Carrefour sold its 29 hypermarkets in Mexico.
- North Macedonia: Carrefour opened a store in Skopje in 2012 but later stopped operations due to debt.
- Portugal: In 2007, Carrefour sold all its hypermarkets and fuel stations in Portugal.
- Russia: Carrefour entered the Russian market in 2009 but announced it was leaving just a month after opening its second store.
- Singapore: In 2012, Carrefour's stores were mostly replaced by another supermarket chain.
- Slovakia: Carrefour left the Slovak market in 2018 after 17 years.
- South Korea: Carrefour entered the Korean market in 1996 but sold all its stores and left in 2006.
- Switzerland: In 2007, Carrefour sold its 12 hypermarkets in Switzerland to Coop.
- Syria: Carrefour had a store in Aleppo that operated until 2014 when the mall it was in was destroyed.
- Thailand: Carrefour's business in Thailand was sold to Big C in 2011.
- United Kingdom: Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in the UK in 1972. The stores were later sold to other chains like Gateway and Asda.
- United States: Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in the US in 1988 in Philadelphia. Both of its US stores closed in 1993 due to financial problems.
- Uzbekistan: Carrefour opened hypermarkets in Uzbekistan in 2021, but all stores closed in 2023.
- Vietnam: Carrefour had two stores in Ho Chi Minh City until 2004.
Carrefour Foundation
The Carrefour Foundation is a special fund created by Carrefour in 2000. It helps support social programs related to the company's business, like helping communities where Carrefour operates or where its suppliers are located.
Carrefour Mobile
Carrefour Mobile is a mobile phone service offered by Carrefour. It works by using the network of other mobile companies.
Carrefour offers its mobile phone services in several countries:
- Belgium (as Carrefour Mobile)
- France (as Carrefour Mobile)
- Spain (as Carrefour Móvil)
- Italy (as 1Mobile or UNO Mobile)
- Greece (as Carrefour Mobile)
- Poland (as Carrefour Mova Mobile)
- Brazil (as Carrefour Mobile)
Carrefour first launched its mobile service in Belgium. In France, it used the Orange network. Carrefour was also the first company to launch this type of mobile service in Italy in 2007.
In September 2012, the Carrefour Mobile service stopped in France, but the brand still offers some specific mobile plans through Orange.
Images for kids
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Carrefour Group logo
See also
In Spanish: Carrefour para niños
