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Carrefour SA
Type	Public (Euronext: CA)
Founded	1957
Headquarters	Levallois-Perret, Paris, France
Key people	José Luis Duran
Industry	Retail
Products	Discount Stores, Grocery Stores, Convenience stores, Cash&Carry, Hypermarkets, Optical, Pharmacy, Clothing, Cosmetics and more
Revenue	€ 77,9 billion (2006)
Operating income	€ 3,274 billion (2006)
Net income	€ 2,269 billion (2006)
Total assets	€ 28,531 billion (2006)
Total equity	€ 10,503 billion (2006)
Employees	456,295 (2006)
Slogan	"Choice and quality for everyone"
Website	www.carrefour.com

Carrefour SA (Euronext: CA) (pronounced [karˈfur]) is a French international hypermarket chain, with a global network of outlets. It is the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue after Wal-Mart. Carrefour operates mainly in the European Union, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, but also has shops in North Africa and Asia. Carrefour means cross-road in French.

Contents 1 History 2 Slogans 3 Carrefour around the world in September 2007 3.1 Americas 3.2 Asia 3.3 Africa 3.4 Europe 4 Store Brands 5 Criticism and Controversies 6 Carrefour Indonesia Safety Concerns 7 Former countries 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

The first Carrefour store opened on 3 June 1957, in suburban Annecy near a crossroads (carrefour in French). Today it is the smallest Carrefour location in the world. The group was created by Marcel Fournier and Denis Defforey and grew into a chain from this first sales outlet. In 1999 it merged with Promodès, known as Continent, one of its major competitors on the French market.

Marcel Fournier and Denis Defforey had attended several seminars in the United States led by "The Pope of modern distribution" Bernardo Trujillo, who influenced other famous French executives like Édouard Leclerc (E.Leclerc), Gérard Mulliez (Auchan), Paul Dubrule (Accor), and Gérard Pélisson (Accor). Their slogan was "No parking, no business.".

The Carrefour group pioneered the concept of a hypermarket^{[dubious – discuss]}, a large supermarket and a department store under the same roof. They opened their first hypermarket 15 June 1963 in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, near Paris in France^[1].

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, milk, and pasta, sold in unbranded white packages at substantially lower prices. The popularity of these products led critics on the political right to charge that Carrefour was undermining capitalism by acclimating the population to generic (rather than brand name or specialty) foods.^{[citation needed]} In particular, Jean Mothes, an executive at Perrier, wrote in Investir magazine that Carrefour did more to accelerate the change to a socialist-led government than socialist politicians and syndicalists like Edmond Maire, Georges Marchais, François Mitterrand and Georges Séguy.

• Hypermarkets: "Choice and quality for everyone"
• Supermarkets: "The prices people want, close to home"
• Hard Discount: "Grocery products at low, low prices"
• Convenience Stores: "Just what you need, right next door"
• Cash & Carry: "Proximity and accessibility for catering professionals"

• Carrefour has a presence in 4 countries in the Americas: Brazil, Argentina,Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. Carrefour is active in 3 types of retail distribution: hypermarkets, supermarkets and hard discounters, and is entering the Cash & Carry market in Brazil, after the purchase of Atacadão^[2].

Country	First store	Number of stores	Hypermarkets	Supermarkets	Hard Discounters	Cash & Carry
Argentina	1982	532	57	93	382	-
Brazil	1975	454	145	36	273	34 (purchase pending)
Colombia	1998	35	35	-	-	-
Dominican Republic	2000	1	1	-	-	-

• In 1989, Carrefour became the first international retailer to establish a presence in Asia when it entered Taiwan through a joint venture with Uni President Enterprises Corporation. It leveraged the experience it gathered in Taiwan to expand into other Asian markets. Carrefour also operates in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in a joint venture with Majid al Futtaim [1]. In March of 2007 Carrefour opened a store in Kuwait in the Avenues mall. In Oman, Carrefour opened a store in 2003 on the outskirts of the city of Muscat.

Country	First store	Number of stores	Hypermarkets	Supermarkets	Hard Discounters
People's Republic of China	1995	383	100	-	273
Indonesia	1998	30	30	-	-
Japan	2000	7	7	-	-
Jordan	2007	1	1	-	-
Kuwait	2007	1	1	-	-
Malaysia	1994	11	11	-	-
Oman	2000	2	2	-	-
Qatar	2000	3	3	-	-
Saudi Arabia	2004	5	5	-	-
Singapore	1997	2	2	-	-
Republic of China (Taiwan)	1989	48	48	-	-
Thailand	1996	25	25	-	-
United Arab Emirates	1995	11	11	-	-

Country	First store	Number of stores	Hypermarkets	Supermarkets	Hard Discounters
Algeria	2005	1	1	-
Egypt	2002	3	3	-
Tunisia	2001	3	1	2	-

Country	First store	Number of stores	Hypermarkets	Supermarkets	Hard Discounters	Convenience Stores	Cash & Carry
Belgium	2000	580	56	281	-	243	-
France	1960	3,898	218	1,017	875	1,654	134
Greece	1991	817	20	201	395	201	-
Italy	1993	1,543	58	468	-	997	20
Poland	1997	344	70	269	-	5	-
Portugal	1992	456	12	-	456	-	-
Romania	2001	32	11	21	-	-	-
Spain	1973	3,049	156	87	2,806	-	-
Turkey	1993	617	17	93	507	-	-
Cyprus	2005	10	5	5	-	-	-
Europe	1960	11,375	610	2,442	5,039	3,100	154

Hypermarkets: Carrefour, Atacadao.

Supermarkets: Carrefour Express, Champion, Champion Mapinomovaoe, Globi, GB, GS, Norte, Gima, Artima^[3].

Hard discount stores: Dia, Ed, Mini Preço.

Convenience stores: 5 minutes, 8 a HuiT, Marche Plus, Proxi, Sherpa, Dìperdì, Smile Market, Ok!, Contact GB, GB Express, Shopi.

Cash & Carry: Promocash, Docks Market, Gross IPer.

On 26 June 2007 the company was convicted in a French court for false advertising. The suit alleged that Carrefour regularly stocked insufficient quantities of advertised products for sale. In addition, the company was convicted of selling products below cost and accepting kickbacks from wholesalers. Carrefour was ordered to pay a fine of €2 million and to prominently and legibly display a notice in all of its French stores disclosing the false advertising.^[4]

Carrefour has also received criticism for engaging in sweatshop practices.^[5]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

On 15 December 2007, 19 store employees at the Carrefour branch in Ratu Plaza shopping center, Central Jakarta were hospitalized after inhaling excessive amounts of carbon monoxide following power outages and a subsequent ventilation system failure. Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said the administration closed the parking area in the basement of Ratu Plaza building after an investigation discovered leakage in the mechanical blower. The incident was the store's fourth ventilation failure. The branch was closed twice in late 2002 following ventilation failures in November and December. Last May, 119 people, including shoppers, were hospitalized in a similar incident at the store. Afterwards, the City's environment management board found the level of carbon monoxide inside Carrefour had reached 120 particles per million (ppm), far above the 23 ppm limit considered safe for humans.

In Carrefour Mangga Dua, Jakarta, Indonesia, a 5-metre high metal rack fell on top a 3-year old boy, killing the boy almost instantly due to internal bleeding.^[6] Afterwards, the victim's family claimed that Carrefour has refused to meet with them to settle the case.^[7] However, Carrefour Corporate Affairs Officer denied this allegation^[8]

• 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 as well as its stores in Taiwan. Carrefour had opened its first store in 1998 in the Czech Republic and in 2000 in Slovakia. The stores still use the Carrefour name and brand;
• Hong Kong — In the late 1990s, Carrefour moved out of Hong Kong after complaints from manufacturers about selling products (especially electronics) at prices far below those of its competitors.^{[citation needed]} Carrefour previously had stores in Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Heng Fa Chuen.
• Indonesia — A fully functional, ready-to-open Carrefour hypermarket in Bali is currently having problems prior to opening in March, 2007 due to legal disputes with the Balinese Tribal Regencies;^{[citation needed]}
• Japan — In 2005, Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets to AEON Group, but stores still use the Carrefour name and brand;
• Mexico — In March 2005, Carrefour sold its 29 hypermarkets in Mexico to Chedraui. Carrefour had opened its first store in 1995 in Mexico;
• Portugal — In July 2007 Carrefour sold all of its 12 hypermarkets and 9 fuel stations to Sonae for 662 million euros. Also included were 11 licenses for opening new commercial spaces. Carrefour had obtained its first store in 1991, by buying the two Euromaché hypermarkets;
• South Korea — In 2006, Carrefour sold its 32 hypermarkets to E-Land. The stores are being re-branded as Homever, a chain of supermarkets specializing in home furnishing;
• Switzerland - In August 2007 Carrefour sold its 12 hypermarkets in Switzerland to Swiss retailer Coop for $390 million;^[9]
• 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. Subsequent outlets were opened at Merry Hill, Dudley, Glasshoughton (near Castleford), Eastleigh, MetroCentre (near Gateshead), Telford Shopping Centre and Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. All stores were later acquired by the Dee Corporation, but continued to trade as Carrefour for some time before being converted to Gateway Superstores. Today many of the old Carrefour stores in the UK are branches of Asda;
• United States — Carrefour opened hypermarkets in Philadelphia and Voorhees Township, New Jersey, in 1988 and 1992 respectively. Both stores closed in 1993. Some associates wore roller skates to facilitate moving about the large building. The Voorhees location now houses a Kohl's department store, a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store, and a Marshalls discount clothing store, while the Philadelphia location houses a Wal-Mart and a few tiny stores.^{[citation needed]}

• European Retail Round Table
• List of French companies
• Carrefour Laval
• Carrefour Marinopoulos

^[10]

• Official site
• Yahoo! - Carrefour SA Company Profile

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