Carrefour (Kar-Fewr) is a French “Hyperstore” chain which resembles the American version of Walmart. The first Carrefour appeared in France in 1960; now, Carrefour is the 2nd largest retailer in the world with over 9,500 locations dispersed around Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and South America. Around half of those locations (4,500) can be found in France alone!
In French the word Carrefour means “crossroads” or “intersection”. It all makes sense because you practically can find one at every turn in France! Imagine if Walmart followed a similar path here in the U.S?
Carrefour, la qualité pour tous
It’s funny because you can tell that Carrefour is a French company. The cheese section of Carrefour will blow your socks off, offering a large selection of French cheese for the picking. The bread at Carrefour isn’t necessarily bad, however, the ease of finding better quality bread for a few extra centimes only make Carrefour a convenience option (i.e, you could just buy the bread at Carrefour and save yourself a trip elsewhere). Carrefour’s bakery also makes crêpes, pains au chocolat, and fresh baguettes! Carrefour offers tons of reasonable wines, an extremely large selection of fresh produce, and wide variety of chocolates.
In the hyperstores and superstores you can also find a large amount of French books for a good price (I now have an entire French library grace à Carrefour). They also sell things like cooking utensils, school stuff, clothing, toiletries, and MUCH more.
If you want a true French Experience in France, visit the local boulangerie.
Unlike Walmart, Carrefour has several sizes of stores, which, allows them to dominate even the small streets of Paris with smaller stores known as Carrefour City. I also find Carrefour Markets in the smaller villages and towns. It’s really sad because I’m sure that low key boulangers (bread makers) and other small time shops are losing business to Carrefour. During my stays in France, I truly enjoyed going to each individual specialty shop and purchasing quality products… although I always had another option. It was as if Carrefour was looming right in front of me moaning “convenience”.
Another thing I realized?
Carrefour City, for example, is open every day from 7 AM to 11 PM. That is almost unheard of in France, but since there are always teenagers looking for jobs, Carrefour is able to operate at hours of the day when a typical French proprietor would close. According to Le Figaro, Carrefour city targets urban Frenchies who prefer to shop in small quantities or those who dislike traveling outside of the city to shop for groceries.
The Benefits of Carrefour:
- They offers a ton of products for a very low price.
- The “Carrefour Discount” products (store brand) are a great value, similar to WalMart.
- Convenient. To many, it just makes sense to do all your shopping at one location.
- OPERATES AT TIMES when many French businesses are still closed.
- Offers thousands of jobs. However I cannot speak for the many businesses they probably stomped out.
Are there any Carrefour-free French towns left? Do you see any problems with Carrefour? Do you like to shop are Walmart (Wal-Mart) here in the United States? Share your thoughts or experiences below.
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Bob Ducketton December 6, 2021 at 15:36
I’m on a cruise stopping tomorrow in Cannes. My luggage was lost and I need some basic, inexpensive clothing. Underwear, gym shorts, cheap tee shirts, etc. Is this the store foe me, and is it relatively close to the pier? Will be taking a cab……..
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dan mccreadyon June 2, 2019 at 10:25
….do they have colorful inexpensive tee shirts for men ?……is this like primark in london ?……..we just wanna discount shop when we are there for kitschy tees…….merci mon amis………..
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Bill Davenporton December 25, 2018 at 21:35
Can I shop online from the USA?
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John Elkhouryon February 8, 2019 at 18:57
I do not believe so.
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Lawrence carboneon April 27, 2016 at 13:48
Do you ever comment on the carrefour experience in the U.S. ? Philadelphia and N.J. . And the local union U.F.C.W LOCAL 2001 ? or is this off limits ?
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John Elkhouryon May 2, 2016 at 12:11
I’ve never been aware of the “Carrefour experience” Lawrence
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MAUREENon March 4, 2016 at 11:39
I WOULD LIKE TO BUY FRENCH SHALLOTS FROM FRANCE & DON’T KNOW HOW. THEY’RE NOT AVAIL, IN U.S. STORES
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Anonymouson April 10, 2014 at 16:26
ITs terrible. I was RVing in Europe and this sh*tty place wouldnt even let me sleep in the parking lot overnight… Not Happy, plus it smelled like ass and cheese in there..
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Napoleonon June 12, 2016 at 20:03
Welcome in France bro !
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Anonymouson October 14, 2013 at 02:18
cannot compare them , at least carrefour treat their employees better , since walmart does not like to pay for social charge they have no way to ever make any impact in Europe any time soon.
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Anonymouson April 30, 2013 at 20:09
OMG! U can’t even compare these 2!!! Carrefour is BY FAR the best!!!
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Johnon May 1, 2013 at 15:54
:) this comment made me smile…
I simply call it the “French Walmart” so that Americans have some sort of imagery to start from.
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