2023-12-28 18:15:28
Brittany has long been an anomaly for the mass distribution company owned by the powerful Mulliez family. However, the recent sale of 313 Casino supermarkets and hypermarkets to the benefit of the Mousquetaires/Auchan duo could allow the robin brand to establish itself in Breton lands.
Why has she avoided the region until now? The specialist in mass distribution, Olivier Dauvers, explains this absence as the result of a non-aggression pact concluded in the 1960s, the Breton Edouard Leclerc having provided advice to the founder of Auchan Gérard Mulliez in his early days.
“It’s going to be expensive to renovate”
Since then, the Lille group has tried several times to establish itself in Brittany. As in Betton, near Rennes, in 2011 where the Council of State canceled the authorization for the construction of a commercial complex. Another project was announced in 2012 in Finistère at Châteaulin. The management of Auchan France made the trip but the file collapsed at the last moment to the surprise of elected officials.
Rumors then mentioned Brest or Theix, in Morbihan. Without the robin succeeding in making its nest there. Only one Simply Market convenience store (now Auchan Supermarché) opened in Rennes in 2006 before closing the curtain four years later.
The takeover of the Casino hypermarkets in Brittany represents a real challenge for Auchan. “It will not be easy to make the difference because there is already a very strong battle over prices in the region with Leclerc or Système U in particular”, analyzes Bertrand Gobin, journalist, author of the book “The hidden face of the empire Mulliez. »
Casino stores are also often in poor condition. “It’s going to be expensive to renovate. Not to mention the movement away from consumers towards hypermarkets in favor of local stores,” adds Bertrand Gobin.
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