Carrefour trial new style French store

Carrefour SA said yesterday that it is planning a complete renovation of its entire chain of 220 French hypermarkets.

 

In a move aimed at gaining market share and attracting more cost conscious clientele in its home country of France, the world’s second largest food retailer will revise the appearance and product selection countrywide.

 

Carrefour plans to update the decor, expand the food selection and streamline the checkout process in its French stores, according to comments made by Alain Souillard, head of Carrefour's hypermarket division following the recently renovated hypermarket in Auteuil, on the western outskirts of Paris.

 

The retailer says the moves are in response to a market which has changed a great deal, as recent figures for the company showed, its customers have reined-in non-food spending, and Carrefour is now responding by cutting back on non-food items in some locations.

 

This change is visible in the Auteuil store, where the company has eliminated 40% of non-food offerings, while stocking a larger range of food items, including a "wine cellar," with bottles from €2 to €1,200, a display of a dozen exotic tomato varieties, shelves packed with regional French foods and a large selection of organic products.

 

The company also recently launched a low-cost branded range of products and a French promotional campaign in an effort to boost trade.

 

At the store the company is also testing an innovative scan-as-you-go price tallying system which company executives say reduces check-out queues. Carrefour is installing self-operated check-out counters in over half its French megastores.

 

Carrefour's new CEO, Lars Olofsson, appointed last year to improve performance, has said the brand has lost some of its strength in France, where shoppers view it as more expensive than it actually is.