Carrefour, which announced plans to sell its operations and withdraw from Russia, said it would still keep its hypermarket chain in Russia. The retailer said its two hypermarkets, opened earlier this year in Moscow and the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, would continue to operate under the Carrefour banner until its business is sold and the retailer would go ahead as planned with the opening of a third hypermarket in the western Russian city of Lipetsk.
However, a source close to the retailer's Russian office said that Carrefour is now seeking franchisees in order to stay in the local market. Reportedly, Carrefour has already held meetings to discuss the possibility with a number of Russian retailers. A top manager of a large Russian retail chain told Russian Kommersant business daily that Carrefour offered a franchise agreement to retailer Magnit. Carrefour was offering its franchising licence in exchange for a royalty of 1-1.5% of annual sales, but the Russian retailer declined the offer, the daily reported.
