ROMANIA: Strategic move for Carrefour on the Express format | Progresiv

French retailer Carrefour opened in the first part of January, in Buzau, a new Express proximity store concept. According to sources in the market, this time we are talking about a pilot project, but Carrefour is already looking for locations to expand the new store format in the Capital.

Visually, from the outside it is instantly visible the color change used in the store logo, the green from Express logo being turned orange. "We're not talking just about a color change. The Express store in Buzau is a proximity supermarket with compact assortment, adapted to proximity trade and focusing on snacking products, drinks and services", said Carrefour representative to Progresiv, who did not wish to communicate more details about this change.

Carrefour launched the Express format in Romania in 2008, following the rebranding of an Artima store located in Resita. The retailer took over all 21 Artima stores in 2007 for 55 million euros. Carrefour currently operates 44 Express stores, of which only four are owned by Carrefour, the rest being operated in franchise.

At group level, Carrefour operates over 7,000 stores in multiple formats, including Express, City, Contact, Montagne, Bio, Proxi, 8 à Huit.

The retailer has concluded the financial year 2016 with sales of 85.7 billion euros, up by 3% over the previous year (in comparable terms), marking the fifth consecutive year of growth for Carrefour.