French retail group Auchan plans to enter Algeria in the fourth quarter of this year in partnership with the Great Way Group, a retail player operating in the Maghreb region.
The move will mark Auchan's expansion to a third country in the continent after Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
The partnership will see the opening of a 5,000 square-metre Auchan branded hypermarket in the capital city of Algiers, managed by the Great Way Group.
Further expansion across the country is also being considered, Auchan noted.
Yves Claude, chairman and CEO of Auchan Retail said, "To continue and expand our development in Africa, we are entering into a responsible partnership with one of Algeria’s leading retailers.
"We share a three-fold ambition: offering residents a novel shopping experience; offering them products that are good for their health and for the planet; and contributing to Algeria’s development, as far as we can, by encouraging the creation of agricultural value chains and local food production."
Partnership
The partners seek to bring to Algerians a quality and responsible offer at affordable prices to create a modern shopping experience, the retailer said.
They also aim to foster local, responsible agricultural value chains that guarantee healthy food and create jobs and value for the country, it added.
Since 2015, the retailer has been operating in Senegal, where it currently runs 37 stores and an e-commerce website.
Elsewhere, Auchan entered Côte d’Ivoire in June 2022, and now has 13 outlets in Abidjan and Bouaké.
Read More: Auchan France Launches New 'Smart Store' At Its Headquarters
Great Way Group
Headquartered in Algiers, the Great Way Group operates 80 stores in Algeria, as well as two warehouses in Algiers, which boast a total storage space of 12,000 cubic metres.
Yasser Hadjbenali, executive director of the Great Way Group said, "Our partnership aims to acquire solid know-how and international expertise in food retail that will benefit our employees, manufacturers, farmers and local economic players in Algeria.
"Our collaboration also seeks to provide an innovative, modern and exclusive customer experience, featuring services never previously seen in the Algerian market. Auchan is the ideal partner to achieve this ambition of creating a new generation of competent, modern and forward looking Algerian retailers."
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
