Carrefour sees first declines

The Carrefour network has said for the first time that certain stores have seen a drop in sales due to competition, after heavy rises have been the norm so far. “A few of our stores are seeing a slowdown in the volume of sales and even a slowdown in their operations, due to increased competition on the market,” reads the half-year report by the Carrefour group. Another French owned company, Cora, Carrefour’s strongest competitor, already has three stores. Competition will become even fiercer this autumn when Auchan is set to enter the market, opening a store in South-Eastern Bucharest. Furthermore, the hypermarket division of Metro, Real, has already opened three stores and will have eight by the end of the year. However, growth in the first six months of the year of Carrefour Romania’s business also includes organic development. Carrefour Romania reported sales worth 211.6 million euros six months into the year, an increase of almost 35% against the same period last year. The increase in the French group’s business in Romania is due to a great extent to the expansion of the store network locally.