Carrefour has officially opened its first Atacadão outlet in France, offering a “radically different” shopping experience for consumers, according to Carrefour chief executive Alexandre Bompard.
Commenting on LinkedIn, Bompard noted that the new 10,000-square-metre store, which opened on 20 June in Aulnay-sous-Bois, is an ‘unprecedented’ format in the French retail market and will source some 70% of its offering from French suppliers.
The store will offer some 20,000 SKUs as part of its selection, of which 25% will be private-label products.
The Atacadão format, which combines elements of cash-and-carry and traditional retail, originated in Brazil, where it has become something of a retail phenomenon in the five years since its introduction. It has also been rolled out to Morocco.
Carrefour 2026 Strategy
Carrefour announced plans to introduce Atacadão to France in late 2022, as part of the announcement of its Carrefour 2026 strategic plan.
This first store will be operated by Carrefour’s long-standing partner in Morocco and France, LabelVie (a subsidiary of Retail Holding Europe), under a franchise model. LabelVie has previous experience with the Atacadão concept in Morocco.
According to Carrefour, the positioning of the new store in the Seine-Saint-Denis region provides it with an extensive catchment area, comprised of both professional and everyday consumers, as well as those seeking promotions and affordable prices.
‘The Atacadão concept is based on a combination of different factors, including being the cheapest store in its catchment area, adding numerous accessible references for all our customers, and offering an assortment focused on essentials and supplemented by limited-edition purchases,’ Carrefour noted in a statement.
Additionally, some suppliers deliver directly to the store, keeping distribution costs low.
Carrefour operates a total of 366 Atacadão outlets in Brazil, and 15 in Morocco. [Photos by Nicolas Gouhier]
