Picard is France's favourite store

FROZEN food firm Picard is French people’s favourite international chain, a study among 14,000 consumers in six countries shows.

The store is liked for its large choice, the look of the shops, its service and its value for money, revealed the poll by market analysts OC&C.

Second most popular was Scandinavian furniture store IKEA, while internet bookshop Amazon, which came top in the USA, UK and Germany, was third equal with perfume and beauty stores Sephora and sports stores Decathlon.

The others in the top 10 were Fnac (Books, music, technology), Nature & Découvertes (gardening and outdoor pursuits), the supermarket Leclerc, Vente Privée (an internet site hosting sales of reduced price designer goods) and clothes stores Zara.

The study asked consumers to rate stores they had visited at least once in the past six months on criteria such as price, quality, service, choice, atmosphere and how suitable the products are to their needs.

It showed how popular e-commerce has become, while, according to one of the authors of the study, Jean-Daniel Pick, the ordinary high street stores that did well are ones with a “clear concept” and convenient location.

Picard dates from 1906 when it was founded by Frenchman Raymond Picard as Les Glacières de Fontainebleau, a company making ice blocks for keeping food fresh before refrigerators.

It both makes and sells frozen food and has 730 stores. It is also possible to order by internet and telephone for home delivery.

Photo: Meg Zimbeck/Flickr