Five facts about France's biggest supermarkets and hypermarkets

What would we do without la grande distribution (mass-market supply chains) and les grandes surfaces (hypermarkets) that supply all our material needs? To paraphrase the Eagles: you can check out any time you like, but you know you will be back pretty soon, spending yet more on stuff you may not need.

I got to wondering how much we know about the business models and corporate philosophies behind these paradises of retail delight. Here, we peer behind the logos of five of the biggest French outlets that ingest so much of our hard-earned cash. Some are vertically organised multinationals, while others are quasi-co-operatives, owned and run by a local chef d’entreprise.

Carrefour

The leader of the French hypermarket business ranks third overall in the world. It has 15,000 shops, most of them in France but a sizeable number in 39 other countries. 

The company was founded in Annecy in 1959 by Marcel Fournier and Denis Defforey. The name means ‘crossroads’ – a nod to the location of its first supermarket at the intersection of two major avenues.

Auchan

France’s number two hypermarket company – and main competitor of Carrefour – has almost 3,000 shops in 12 countries. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez, who was inspired by the success of Carrefour and E. Leclerc. Its Spanish shops are named Alcampo.

E.Leclerc

In 1949, Breton entrepreneur Edouard Leclerc was selling biscuits and sweets out of a rented van in Landerneau, Brittany, when he struck on the idea of buying in bulk and passing on wholesale prices to retail customers. Rather than a centralised, hierarchical company, the Leclerc way is referred to as ‘the movement’. The 700-plus stores in France are semi-independent, operating co-operatively under the Leclerc brand. There are also around 110 branches in other countries.

Intermarché

This is the main brand of the Mousquetaires Group, a co-operative assembly of supermarkets and hypermarkets run by signed-up ‘adhérents’. It has more than 4,100 shops in four countries, half of them in France. The DIY and home-equipment Bricomarché shops are part of the same group. It has its own agricultural and food-processing plants.

Cooperative U

Previously known as Système U and usually referred to as ‘Super U’, this chain has 1,800 supermarkets and hypermarkets in 15 countries. ‘U’ claims to offer a different kind of retailing to the other chains: store owners have some autonomy as to what they stock, and the best of them have at least a small section of shelf dedicated to local food and drink producers. It traces its roots back to an association of small grocers in 1894.