Max Goldberg

Carrefour Looks to Reinvent the Hypermarket

August 30, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Carrefour is testing a new hypermarket concept as Western Europeans buy groceries closer to home or head to department and specialty stores for apparel and beauty products. Do large-format superstores in the U.S. face similar challenges to Carrefour's hypermarkets in Europe?      [more...]

Shopping in the US is different than in Europe. Our population is not as old, or aging as quickly. Our price of fuel is less than half of Europe's and most of our cities feature big-box retailers, whereas Europeans have to travel outside their cities to reach these stores.

Carrefour is right to experiment with format changes. As consumers change, retailers must follow or become less relevant. And the concept for stores in one country may not be as easily accepted in others.