Today millions of people from France, Argentina, Brazil, China and many other countries associate the word “Carrefour” with convenience, quality, and the best service. That is why the chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets Carrefour is considered as the second greatest company in the industry round in the world.
When the first store of this brand was opened in France in 1959 its founders concentrated on the most effective principles of marketing which were close to customers. Thus, the strategy has not changed, and the company continues to attract the customers with high quality of products, low prices, and innovative approaches to marketing.
During many decades Carrefour keeps its leading positions at the market. Every year the leaders of the company do all their possible to broaden the geographic horizons and to attract more and more people to the world of hypermarkets where everything is developed and improved for their comfort. This winning company was established in France by the representatives of such families as Fournier and Defforey (Grant 2005).
The name of the company means a thoroughfare. “In other words, the name signifies that is convenient to shop there” (“The history of Carrefour”). The start was rather successful. Nevertheless, the real revolution was made in 1963 when Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey, and Jacques Defforey invented a progressive concept of a hypermarket (“The history of Carrefour”).
“Hypermarkets became a rapid success, revolutionizing the retail industry in France and worldwide” (“Carrefour SA”).One more important detail was the idea of convenient parking zone near the supermarkets and hypermarkets.
The next stage was the opening of the first hypermarket outside France in Belgium. It was the begging of a new age for the development of the brand. Nowadays customers know the hypermarkets of Carrefour “under more than two dozen names including Carrefour, Champion, Shopi, Marché Plus, Dia, Ed, and Promocash” (“Carrefour SA”).
Reference List
Carrefour SA. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/carrefour-sa-history/
Grant, T. (ed.). (2005). International directory of company histories. USA: St. James Press.
The history of Carrefour. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://historyofbusiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/history-of-carrefour.html