After opening pilot stores in rural areas under the Carrefour Contact banner in Brittany and in Normandy, Carrefour is now testing a new urban convenience store concept, Carrefour City. The first pilot store has a sales area of 410 square metres (a former Shopi store) and opened yesterday in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.
Located in city centres, Carrefour City is a store concept designed to meet the needs of urban customers. Carrefour City is opened six days a week, plus Sunday mornings when permitted by law, with opening hours ranging from 7am to 10-11pm (depending on the store). The store is organised into two distinct areas: the first represents 45% of the sales area, offers snacks, ready-to-eat or reheatable products for a quick breakfast or lunch. The second area offers a complete range of products for everyday needs (groceries, frozen foods, beverages, household products, flowers and daily newspapers, etc.). The store offers 5,700 SKUs. Like Carrefour Contact, Carrefour City offers Carrefour's own-branded products (Bio, Sélection, Baby, Kids, Light, Solidaire and EcoPlanète), which account for one third of the total assortment.
Another key concept is the Relaxing Area, located near the entrance of the store. Two microwaves and two coffee makers are for customer use, with a counter and bar-style chairs.
According to Carrefour, the success of this test will be established within six months. If the concept proves to be successful, it will be rolled out in the third quarter of this year. However, two further Carrefour City stores will be opened in Nîmes and in Avignon in the next few days and a fourth store will open in Paris, near the Ecole Militaire in the 7th arrondissement in April.
