A fifth of all local Carrefour stores are losing money, according to figures VRT quoted on Saturday. They were confirmed by the Unizo employer’s organisation. Carrefour are said to be very surprised by them.
Luc Ardies from Unizo said that based on data from the National Bank, it would appear 21% of Carrefour Express and Carrefour Market stores are losing money. He says this is slightly above average. “19.7% of independent and local supermarkets are not making a profit. That’s better than the big chains”.
During an Extraordinary Business Council meeting on Thursday, Carrefour’s management announced a restructuration plan that could affect up to 1,233 employees. 1,053 of them work in Hypermarchés. The chain wants to invest more in its local stores as part of its transformation plan.
Luc Ardies says Carrefour’s decision to invest in independent stores is a good one. However, Unizo thinks Carrefour shouldn’t consider these independent stores as “a simple sales channel”. Stores also have to make a profit. Unizo warns a reduction strategy could have a negative impact on their profitability.
These figures have left a lot of people at Carrfour dumbfounded. “We are wondering where they got theses figure from. We don’t usually talk about other companies, even though they are franchised to us so it’s in our interests they do well”, says spokesman Baptiste Van Outryve. If it turns out stores are losing money, Carrefour will develop an action plan to help them.
(Source: Belga)
