Carrefour facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Carrefour S.A.

Type	Public
Traded as	Euronext Paris: CA CAC 40 Component
ISIN	ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=FR0000120172 FR0000120172]
Industry	Retail Wholesaling
Founded	1 January 1958; 66 years ago (1958-01-01)
Founders	Marcel Fournier Denis Defforey Jacques Defforey
Headquarters	Massy, Essonne , France
Number of locations	13,894 stores (2021) France: 5,619 Italy: 1,489 Spain: 1,474 Belgium: 792 Poland 755 Brazil: 508 Argentina: 485 Romania: 365 Taiwan: 328 Israel: 50 French territories and the Dominican Republic: 180 Other: 1,525 Retail network hypermarkets: 1,130 supermarkets: 3,574 convenience: 8,642 cash and carry: 440 soft discount: 108
Area served	Europe, Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, East Asia, South America
Key people	Alexandre Bompard (Chairman & CEO) Matthieu Malige (CFO)
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)
Operating income	€2.27 billion (2021) 768 million (Latam) 757 million (France) 718 million (Europe) 78 million (Taiwan) ▲ -49 million (global functions)
Net income	€1.07 billion (2021)
Total assets	€47.67 billion (2021)
Total equity	€11.83 billion (2021)
Number of employees	319,565 (2021) 191,707 (Europe) 115,310 (Latam) 12,548 (Asia)

Carrefour (French pronunciation: [kaʁfuʁ] ) is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The seventh-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which, as of December 2021^[update], comprised 13,894 stores in over 30 countries.

History

The first Carrefour shop (not a hypermarket) opened in 1960, within suburban Annecy, near a crossroads (hence the name ― carrefour means crossroads in French). The group was created in 1958 by Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey and Jacques Defforey, who attended and were influenced by several seminars in the United States led by "the Pope of retail", Bernardo Trujillo.

The Carrefour group was the first in Europe to open a hypermarket, a large supermarket, and a department store under the same roof. They opened their first hypermarket on 15 June 1963 in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, near Paris.

In April 1976, Carrefour launched a private label Produits libres (free products – libre meaning free in the sense of liberty as opposed to gratis) line of fifty foodstuffs, including oil, biscuits (crackers and cookies), milk, and pasta, sold in unbranded white packages at substantially lower prices.

In 1999, it merged with Promodès, better known through its retail banners Continent (hypermarkets) or Champion (supermarkets), one of its major competitors in the French market.

In September 2009, Carrefour updated its logo.

In May 2011, Carrefour reviewed its business situation under conditions of stagnant growth and increasing competition in France from rivals including Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, and decided to invest €1.5  billion ($2.22  billion) to introduce the supermarket concept of Carrefour Planet in Western Europe.

In April 2015, Brazilian businessman Abílio Diniz revealed he was in talks to raise his 5.07 per cent stake in Carrefour and has the support of shareholders to take a board seat.

On 9 June 2017, the board of directors chose Alexandre Bompard as the new chairman and chief executive officer of Carrefour with effect as of 18 July 2017.

In 2017, Carrefour began working with a small French start-up, Expliceat, on a trial basis. Expliceat built a commercial mill that is designed to crumb down leftover bread. It rents the mill to commercial bakeries and then uses the crumb to bake cookies, muffins and pancakes.

In January 2018, Alexandre Bompard announced a strategic plan for the company, entitled "Carrefour 2022", that seeks to make Carrefour the "leader of the food transition for all". The plan includes measures for better food and package sustainability, limitation of food waste, development of organic products, e-commerce partnerships, and two billion euros in annual investments from 2018 as well as organisational and cost reduction measures.

In the exceptional context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carrefour is the first retailer to join C'est qui le Patron ? initiative to share its additional incomes related to COVID-19 to support people who are suffering from the current situation. According to co-founder Nicolas Chabanne, 100,000 euros have been paid out, then 50,000 euros each week until 11 May.

Carrefour's Board of Directors has decided to reduce by 50% the dividend proposed for 2019. The dividend is now €0.69 per share (versus €0.46 per share).

Until the end of the year, Alexandre Bompard and all the members of Carrefour Group's board of directors have decided to waive 25% of their director's fees. These savings will be used to finance solidarity actions for the company's employees, both in France and abroad.

Alexandre Bompard has decided to waive 25% of his fixed salary for a period of two months. To express his gratitude to his personnel in the field, he has decided to offer an exceptional bonus of €1,000 net to 85,000 employees in France.

Logos Evolution

• 

  1960-1963

• 

  1963-1966

Financial data

Domestic operations

The Carrefour supermarket at Faa'a, Tahiti, French Polynesia

The headquarters of the Groupe Carrefour is in Massy, in the Paris metropolitan area. In 2019, the former Carrefour head office of Boulogne-Billancourt and the Carrefour France division office of Courcouronnes, Essonne, near Évry, were combined at that major location. A secondary head office is located in Mondeville, near Caen (Normandy), which was until 1999 the former Promodès headquarters.

Carrefour City, Paris

In France, Carrefour operates under its name over 230 hypermarkets (from 2500 up to 23000 sq m sales area), 1020 Carrefour Market supermarkets (generally from 1000 up to 4000 sq m), and over 2000 smaller supermarkets and convenience stores under the Carrefour City, Carrefour Contact and Carrefour Express banners.

Carrefour also owns the Promocash Cash&Carry chain (130 locations) and supplies 1500 independent small food stores under the Proxi banner. It has recently acquired the organic food chains SoBio and Bio C'Bon to boost its presence in this promising segment.

In 2019, the group launched its first Supeco soft discount stores, which are so far all located in the French Northern region Hauts-de-France. The concept is still being assessed.

International operations

     Current Carrefour operations      Past operations

Africa

Kenya

Carrefour has 13 outlets in Kenya, largely located in the suburbs of Nairobi. The retailer's expansion into Kenya has benefited from the failure of previously dominant supermarket chains such as Nakumatt and Uchumi as Carrefour rushed in to occupy the retail spaces and market share they vacated.

The retailer is the anchor client of The Hub Karen Mall where it opened its first Kenyan store in May 2016. A second outlet was opened at Two Rivers Mall in March 2017, soon followed by a third store the Thika Road Mall in November 2017. The fourth outlet was opened at the Junction Mall along Ngong Road in January 2018; the fifth at Sarit Center in April 2018. In June 2020, Carrefour opened a new store along Uhuru Highway.

In September 2020, Carrefour announced plans to continue its expansion efforts by opening three branches in the coastal city of Mombasa. In May 2021 it opened another branch of Carrefour Market in Garden City Mall along the Thika superhighwaty. It also has a branch at Westgate Mall previously occupied by ShopRite.

Uganda

Carrefour operates multiple stores in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala and Entebbe. The anchor clients are located at Oasis Mall and Metroplex and are in spaces previously occupied by the Kenyan retail chain Nakumatt.

In September 2021 Carrefour signed an agreement with Shoprite of South Africa for the former to take over six stores that the latter would vacate in Uganda. This has increased Carrefour's presence in the country significantly.

As of 2023, there are six outlets located in Kampala: Acacia Mall (Kissimenti), Arena Mall (Nsambya), Lugogo Mall (Nakawa), Metroplex (Naalya), Oasis Mall (Nakasero and Village Mall (Bugolobi). One outlet is located in Victoria Mall in Entebbe.

West and Central Africa

In 2013, Carrefour and the CFAO Group signed a contract for the opening of stores in West and Central Africa. With the first hypermarket opening on Playce Shopping Mall in Abidjan on 2015, Carrefour also has another hypermarket on Yaoundé.

East and South Asia

Pakistan

In 2009, Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in Lahore under the name of Hyperstar in a joint venture with Majid Al Futtaim Group, where it achieved 1,000,000,000 Pakistani rupees in revenues in its first year. It attracted more than 1 million customers every month. On 14 November 2011, Hyperstar opened its second hypermarket in the country in Karachi. On 22 March 2016, it expanded its operations to Islamabad by opening a 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m²) hypermarket in World Trade Center Islamabad.

Since 20 December 2018, MAF has rebranded Hyperstar to Carrefour across Pakistan. It has plans to expand its stores to other cities including Gujranwala, Multan and Hyderabad. As of June 2019, the group had already invested Rs 8,000,000,000 and was looking to invest another Rs 40,000,000,000 in Pakistan. It is operating at least seven hypermarkets (three in Lahore, two in Karachi, one in Islamabad and one in Faisalabad's Lyallpur Galleria) and one superstore in Pakistan.

Taiwan

In 2020, Carrefour Taiwan announced they would acquire 199 Wellcome and 25 Jasons Market Place stores from Dairy Farm International.

In 2022, Carrefour announced that it sold 60% equity of Carrefour Taiwan to Uni-President Enterprises Corporation.

Mongolia

On 17 February 2023, Carrefour opened its first two stores in the nations capital Ulaanbataar, with the partnership of Altan Joloo. As of May 26, 2023. It has four stores.

Europe (outside France)

In 1999, Carrefour entered the Greek market in collaboration with Marinopoulos S.A. Carrefour stopped operating in Greece in 2017 due to its acquisition by the Sklavenitis group. The company reopened in the country in May 2022, and the reactivation of the Carrefour brand in the market will be done in collaboration with Retail & more S.A., a subsidiary of the Teleunicom group.

In 2001, Carrefour entered the Romanian market, expanded into 43 stores. It is one of the top retailers in Romania.

The company operates in Spain under the name of Centros Comerciales Carrefour SA. As of 2019, Carrefour Spain is the 15th most important Spanish company by revenue.

West Asia

Majid Al Futtaim has handled the Carrefour operations in the Middle East and North Africa region since 1995, as the company opened the region's first hypermarket at City Centre Deira – it initially was a Continent-branded store before it converted to Carrefour four years later. As of 2020, Majid Al Futtaim operates over 320 Carrefour stores in 16 countries, serving more than 750,000 customers daily and employing over 37,000 workers.

Iran

In February 2009, MAF opened its first store in Iran, called HyperStar.

Iraq

Majid al Futtaim opened the first Carrefour in Erbil in 2011. There is also a Family Mall Carrefour Department store in Sulaymaniyah. Along with several other international brands, as of June 2023, Carrefour has opened another branch in the capital Baghdad.

Israel

In March 2022, Carrefour signed a franchising agreement with Electra Consumer Products to discontinue the Yeinot Bitan and Mega Ba'ir chains of stores and rebrand them as Carrefour branches.

In July 2023, Carrefour stated that it would not be opening branches in the West Bank.

Lebanon

On 4 April 2013, Majid al Futtaim inaugurated a Carrefour hypermarket at their City Centre Beirut mall, in the Hazmieh suburb of Beirut. In September 2017, a second Carrefour outlet opened at the CityMall Dora, replacing a venue formerly held by a Monop' hypermarket. In June 2018, a third outlet opened at the Tower Center mall in Zouk Mosbeh. In February 2019, a fourth Carrefour, and the first supermarket format venue, opened within the Aley District. The fourth Carrefour is considered a major step for the company's expansion in Lebanon.

United Arab Emirates

On 1 March 2022, Carrefour opened in City Centre Me'aisem in Dubai its first Bio store.

South America

Around 605 stores are in operation in Argentina as of 2021^[update].

Carrefour Brasil, the largest market outside France, was founded in 1975 and today is the major supermarket chain in Brazil in competition with Grupo Pão de Açúcar. Currently it sells more than 25 million products per year.

Carrefour Dominican Republic, opened its first store in Santo Domingo in 2000 and it has expanded to other smaller stores in the city called Carrefour Market and Carrefour City with a total of five (5) stores in 2023. Because of its popular products and accessible prices, Carrefour has remained as a preferred supermarket option in the capital of the Dominican Republic.

Former international operations

Former Carrefour store at Chiba, Japan

Former Carrefour store in Philadelphia, United States

Former Carrefour store in Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.

Former Carrefour store in Bulgaria within The Mall shopping center in Sofia, Bulgaria opened in early 2010

• Austria – In 1976 Carrefour opened a store in the Shopping City Süd at the southern edge of Vienna. Due to limited success, the store closed soon after. Carrefour has not made any other attempt at entering the Austrian market after that.
• Bulgaria – From 2009 to 2011 Bulgaria opened eight locations (five hypermarkets and three supermarkets) in Sofia, Plovdiv, Pleven, Varna, Burgas and Ruse. In 2010, Carrefour and Marinopoulos Group, the largest retail group in Greece, established a franchise company MSC Bulgaria to develop hypermarkets and supermarkets under the Carrefour banner within Southeastern Europe. In June 2016 the owner of the franchise for Bulgaria declared bankruptcy and the stores were closed.
• Chile – Carrefour opened six supermarkets in Santiago de Chile between 1998 and 2003. However, Carrefour never surpassed a 3% market share in the country and their assets in Chile were sold to D&S in 2003.
• China – Carrefour entered China in 1995. In 2007, Carrefour opened 22 stores in China – where the company broke its record for store openings in a one-year period. It was the leading foreign retailer in terms of sales figures, until 2008 and has since lost its No. 1 position in China to Walmart. In 2019, Carrefour sold 80% equity of Carrefour China to local retail comglomorate Suning.com at €620 million, marking the company's exit from China.
• Colombia – In October 2012, Carrefour sold all 72 stores in Colombia to Chilean retailer Cencosud for $2.6  billion, with Cencosud converting all existing Carrefour hypermarkets to its Jumbo and Metro brands. Carrefour pulled out of Colombia to focus on its core markets.
• Cyprus – In 2017, all of the Carrefour stores were sold to a Greek supermarket brand Sklavenitis and underwent a major rebranding, to reflect the brand that now owns the stores.
• Czech Republic – In September 2005, Carrefour sold eleven stores in the Czech Republic to Tesco, the largest UK retailer. Tesco paid €57.4  million as well as its stores in Taiwan. Carrefour opened its first store in 1998 in the Czech Republic. The stores use the Tesco name and brand now.
• Germany – The only store in Germany was opened in 1977 in Mainz-Bretzenheim as a joint venture with Delhaize le Lion and German retailer Stüssgen (later part of REWE Group). Due to problems with a new building permit process and the associated difficulties in opening new locations, the store was sold in 1979 to the German retailer Massa.
• Hong Kong – On 18 September 2000, Carrefour closed its stores in Hong Kong after complaints from manufacturers about selling products (especially electronics) at prices far below those of its competitors. A company spokesman said at that time that the closures were due to "difficulties in finding sites suitable for developing its hypermarket concept and quickly acquiring a significant market share". Carrefour entered the Hong Kong market in December 1996 with a store in Heng Fa Chuen and later added stores in Tsuen Wan (Skyline Plaza), Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Tsim Sha Tsui. Plans to open additional stores in Ma On Shan, Tseung Kwan O and Yau Tsim Mong had been cancelled.
• India – Carrefour operated cash and carry stores in India under the name Carrefour Wholesale Cash & Carry. The first store opened on 30 December 2010 in Shahdara, Delhi. This was followed by a store in Jaipur in late 2011 and one in Meerut in October 2012, Agra in December 2013. Prior to September 2012, India's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy did not allow foreign companies to open multi-brand retail stores in the country. However, 100% FDI in cash-and-carry has been permitted since 1997. As a result, most global retailers, including Carrefour, opted for the cash-and-carry route in India. A new FDI policy, allowing up to 51% FDI in multi-brand retail, came into effect on 20 September 2012. On 8 July 2014, Carrefour announced that it would shut down its Indian operations and close its five wholesale stores by the end of September.
• Indonesia – The first Carrefour branch in Indonesia opened on 14 October 1998 in Cempaka Putih region of Jakarta, following the end of 1997 Asian financial crisis and the subsequent fall of Suharto. In 2012, after operating independently, Carrefour Indonesia was bought by CT Corp and its shares are owned by Chairul Tanjung. CT Corp developed Transmart in 2014, a subsidiary of CT Corp operated by PT Trans Retail Indonesia (formerly PT Carrefour Indonesia, PT Contimas Utama Indonesia, PT Cartisa Properti Indonesia and PT Carti Satria Megaswalayan) and named after CT Corp's television networks Trans TV. It also developed Groserindo, a grocery store also largely operated by Carrefour. Carrefour officially left the nation in 2020, and CT Corp rebranded all remaining branches as Transmart.
• Japan – In 1999 Carrefour's Japanese subsidiary, Carrefour Japan Co. Ltd., opened. The first Carrefour in Japan opened in a suburb of Tokyo in December 2000. In January and February 2001 new Carrefour stores opened in Tokyo and Osaka. Sales were initially strong, but, as Miki Tanikawa of The New York Times wrote, "...10 months later, there is barely a line for most of the day at cash registers of most Carrefour stores here. Lengthy aisles of goods ranging from clothes to bicycles are mostly empty." In early 2003, Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets to AEON Group and on 10 March 2005, the subsidiary's name changed to AEON Marché Co., Ltd. The stores were still operated in the Carrefour name until 31 March 2010, when the license expired.
• Kazakhstan – In the summer of 2017, the one and only Carrefour hypermarket closed down in Almaty as a result of the loss of value of the Tenge currency.
• Malaysia – Carrefour entered Malaysia in 1994 and sold its 26 hypermarkets to AEON Group in November 2012. The hypermarkets was rebranded as AEON BIG, and operates with an orange logo, compared to the magenta logo used by its parent company and existing JUSCO stores in the country. The outlets in Kota Damansara and Jalan Ipoh were the first to be changed from Carrefour to AEON BIG;
• Mexico – In March 2005, Carrefour sold its 29 hypermarkets in Mexico to Chedraui. Carrefour opened its first store in 1994 in Mexico;
• North Macedonia – In October 2012, Carrefour opened its first store in Skopje. The store was part of the brand City Mall that opened the same day in Skopje. By the end of summer 2014, there were plans to open the second store in Tetovo. Carrefour shut down operations in North Macedonia because of debt.
• Portugal – Carrefour entered Portugal by buying its first stores in 1991 – two Euromarché hypermarkets in Telheiras (a neighbourhood of Lisbon) and Vila Nova de Gaia. In July 2007 Carrefour sold all of its 12 hypermarkets and 9 fuel stations to Sonae for €662  million. Also included were 11 licenses for opening new commercial spaces. Currently, only 365 hard-discount supermarkets such as Minipreço are supported by Carrefour in Portugal, not included in the takeover.
• Russia – Carrefour entered the Russian market in the summer of 2009. In October 2009, only a month after it opened its second hypermarket in the country, Carrefour announced it was exiting Russia.
• Singapore – In 2012, Carrefour's stores were primarily replaced by Giant Hyper (Suntec City) and Cold Storage.
• Slovakia – In 2018, Carrefour pulled out of the Slovak market, after 17 years of operation in the country.
• South Korea – Carrefour entered the Korean market in 1996 with their first store in Bucheon and operated 32 stores across the country at its peak in its final year, 2006. Carrefour was confident they would dominate the market, and by 1999 invested a total of $925 million USD into the Korean venture – more than any other foreign company in the Korean market at that time. Carrefour Korea enjoyed mediating success initially, gaining traction for unseen low prices and standing above its competitors. But the rise quickly ended when the Asian Financial Crisis struck South Korea in late 1997. Carrefour's reputation suffered a blow when they were exposed smuggling real estate in South Korea to international recipients. Alongside the reluctance of people spending in the midst of the financial crisis, boycotts ensued, beginning Carrefour's eventual demise. Complaints of Carrefour Korea's poor service quality grew, citing pushing products unfit for the Korean market and significantly soured relationships between the executives and the labour unions. With the company's attitude becoming reckless to its clients and suppliers, clients would boycott again while suppliers began refusing association with Carrefour Korea. With the company stained with controversial negativity, Carrefour Korea sold all their stores to E-Land and exited the Korean market in April 2006. Shortly after, E-Land sold their supermarket asset to Homeplus, recognized as Carrefour Korea's spiritual successor.
• Switzerland – In August 2007 Carrefour sold its 12 hypermarkets in Switzerland to Swiss retailer Coop for $390  million;
• Syria – Carrefour previously opened a store in Shahba Mall in Aleppo in 2009 and operated until the mall was destroyed during the Syrian Civil War on 16 October 2014 when the mall was destroyed and permanently closed.
• Thailand – Carrefour's business in Thailand was sold to Big C Supercenter Public Company Limited, the owner of Big C hypermarket stores in Thailand, due to complaints. The transaction was completed in March 2011, with the Suwinthawong branch being the first store converted from Carrefour to Big C. Carrefour entered the Thai market in 1996.
• United Kingdom – Carrefour opened the first of several hypermarkets in the UK in September 1972 in Caerphilly, South Wales, in a joint partnership with a UK company Wheatsheaf and Distribution & Trading Ltd, followed by stores at the Telford Centre, Chandler's Ford, Minworth, Patchway and Swindon. The Dee Corporation later acquired the stores in the early 1980s; they continued to trade under the Carrefour name, while some other existing smaller sites were rebranded as Carrefour. In the 1980s, new stores were opened at the MetroCentre in Tyne and Wear, and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands, before being rebranded under the now-defunct Gateway chain in 1988. In 1990, the stores were sold to Asda. The initial Caerphilly store was redeveloped in the 1990s; however, the original 1970s hypermarkets at Chandler's Ford, Minworth and Patchway (Cribbs Causeway) still exist as large Asda Supercentres. Since July 2011, online supermarket Ocado has sold a range of Carrefour products in the UK.
• United States – Carrefour opened its first hypermarket in the United States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in March 1988, across from the Franklin Mills shopping mall (now Philadelphia Mills). Despite the large selection, the store was generally derided for its poor conditions, and most of the time, many of the 61 checkout lanes in the store were deserted. In 1992, another location opened in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. Both stores closed because of financial debt in 1993. The Voorhees store was broken up into many smaller stores, while the Philadelphia location became a Walmart and a Dick's Sporting Goods.
• Uzbekistan - Carrefour previously opened hypermarkets in Uzbekistan on 2021, which were franchised by Majid Al-Futtaim, however all stores in Uzbekistan closed in 2023.
• Vietnam – Carrefour had two stores at Ho Chi Minh City until 2004. The stores were later converted into Lotte Mart branches.

Carrefour Foundation

The Carrefour Foundation (Fondation d'Enterprise Carrefour) is a philanthropic fund created by Carrefour in 2000 to support social welfare programmes 'linked to [its] core business as a retailer' in countries the company operates and in countries where its suppliers are located.

Mobile

Carrefour Mobile

Carrefour Mobile is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) owned by Carrefour.

Carrefour Mobile SIM

Carrefour Mova Mobile SIM

Carrefour offers its mobile telephony services in:

• Belgium (as Carrefour Mobile);
• France (as Carrefour Mobile);
• Spain (as Carrefour Móvil);
• Italy (as 1Mobile, also known as UNO Mobile or Carrefour UNO Mobile);
• Greece (as Carrefour Mobile);
• Poland (as Carrefour Mova Mobile);
• Brazil (as Carrefour Mobile).

Carrefour first launched its mobile service in Belgium, in partnership with Effortel and using Effortel Technologies as Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE), on the existing BASE network infrastructure.

In France, this offer was launched by exploiting the infrastructure of the Orange network and using the company Experian as MVNE. This operator first offered prepaid offers, and since September 2007 has offered packages. Carrefour Mobile's offer is in competition with that offered by A-Mobile, of the Auchan group.

Since then, Carrefour has launched a service in several other countries, in particular, Carrefour was the first MVNO in Italy, launching the service in June 2007, in partnership with Effortel.

On 24 September 2012 the MVNO offer stopped in France but the brand maintained a specific offer provided by Orange.

See also

In Spanish: Carrefour para niños