Carrefour and Fnac Darty move in together

French chains Carrefour and Fnac Darty are going to move in together: the electronics retailer is going to open thirty stores in French Carrefour hypermarkets. Will Belgium follow suit?

Thirty shops in hypermarkets

Carrefour wants to host Fnac Darty stores in its hypermarkets, in order to better use the retail space in its hypermarkets. Darty wants to have the thirty shops in French hypermarkets open by 2021, Reuters reports. 

The French competition authority has yet to give its approval. A year ago, a trial wit two Darty stores in Carrefour hypermarkets started in Ville-du-Bois (near Paris) and in Limoges (Central France). It is not yet known whether this cooperation will extend into other countries, but Carrefour is also working on making more of its hypermarket concept in Belgium, while the Fnac Darty group (including the local chain Vanden Borre) is also on the lookout for new growth.

The collaboration between both French retail giants has not come out of the blue: in 2017, Carrefour appointed Fnac Darty’s Alexandre Bompard as its CEO. Since then, he has been starting more and more collaborations between the two companies. In 2017 already, both retailers joined their purchases of household appliances and consumer electronics in France. This cooperation is due to come to an end by the end of this year, however, meaning that both groups can independently conduct their annual price negotiations with suppliers for 2020.