Food
In Valenciennes (in France, near the border with Belgium), Carrefour has opened its first French Supeco store. That is the first of five pilot stores, where the retailer will test a combination of supermarket, discount and cash&carry.
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Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky has acquired a 4.63 % stake in French retailer Casino, along with his Slovak partner Patrik Tkac. The move comes soon after a failed attempt to get a majority share in the German Metro group.
French retailer Auchan has suffered a loss of almost 1.5 billion euros during the first half of 2019, as exiting the Italian market proved very costly. However, the chain sees signs that better times are on the way.
French liquor giant Pernod Ricard has had an excellent year, especially in China, and wants to build on that through a major acquisition and a new distillery.
The 'gilets jaunes' and trade unionists have protested at the very first unmanned opening of a Casino Géant hypermarket in France. The hypermarket in Angers is usually staffed, but trials an 'autonomous' Sunday afternoon opening.
Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt has announced it wants to open five to seven French stores per year, in order to reach a scale that would make its French activities profitable.
The French Casino chain has announced it will accelerate its divestments, in order to to lower debts substantially by 2021.
General
French retailer Géant Casino will trial a with a staff-less hypermarket in Angers. The law on Sunday's rest would be avoided by only employing security personnel, but trade unions fear this will precipitate the end of the job of cashier.
In September, French retail giant Carrefour is to open the first two stores of its Spanish discounter Supeco ('supermercado economico' or 'cheap supermarket') in France. The stores will open in Valenciennes, near the Belgian border. The discounter is going through a fast international growth.
Electronics
Amazon will not pay the "Amazon tax" or "Gafa tax" in France, the American e-tailer said in response to the recent ratification of that law. Instead, it will be increasing its selling rates by 3 % in that country, so that the suppliers will in effect pay the tax.
The fastest-growing food retailer on the French market is - once again - German discounter Lidl. Market leader E.Leclerc continues to make progress, but Carrefour and Casino are unable to reverse the downward trend.
Fashion
French luxury group Richemont has seen its turnover increase by 12 % in the first quarter of the current financial year, as its online activities grew spectacularly.
The French government has introduced a tax aimed at large online companies like Amazon. The United Kingdom is looking to follow suit, despite Trump's reprisal threats.
Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, the CEO of French liquor group Rémy Cointreau, will be leaving her position at the end of the year, as the group announced "with sadness".
Lidl and Leclerc keep growing their market share in the hyper-competitive French food market, which has barely seen any growth as a whole. Most of their success comes at the cost of Carrefour, Casino and Auchan, which are all in a state of decline.
Amazon intends to create as many as 1,800 jobs in France, spread out across twenty sites of the e-commerce giant throughout the country. France is Amazon's third biggest market in Europe.
