Carrefour's Exit from Greece

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Carrefour In Greece Carrefour was established in early 1959. Marcel Fournier (Fournier), a textile retailer, and Louis Defforey (Defforey), a wine and food wholesaler, established a large discount supermarket in France at Annecy. The store was named Carrefour (Crossroads), as it was located at the convergence of five roads at Annecy. In 1962, a store was opened at Sainte-Geneviève-des-bois, a Paris suburb 30 kilometers away from the main city where land was easily available at low prices.

In 1963, they opened another new store which was spread over 2500 sq. meters with a parking space for 400 cars. The store provided a wide range of items, including a self-service grocery at discount prices. It stocked items like clothing, sporting equipment, electronic goods, and auto accessories. The store was inaugurated in June 1963 and its huge size earned it the name ‘hypermarket' in the media. Carrefour offered products at the lowest prices as compared to its competitors, by negotiating with suppliers and wholesalers. The concept of a hypermarket found instant acceptance among younger people, suburban dwellers, and price conscious consumers.

In 1963, the French government passed a law restricting the development of large stores to save the small stores. Carrefour then began venturing into other markets. It entered most of the international markets by forming alliances with local partners. Its first international venture was in Belgium, where a store was opened in association with Delhaize Frères-Le-Lion in 1969. In its first venture outside Europe, Carrefour opened a hypermarket in Brazil in 1975. In 1978, it developed a hard discount store, where a limited assortment of products was sold at prices that were even lower than those in traditional discount stores. The stores were operated under the banner ‘Ed'.

By 1985, Carrefour had operations in ten countries. Private label products were introduced into its product portfolio and they were priced 10-20% lower than branded products and were said to be of superior quality....

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