French retail group Auchan to open 6 hypermarkets in Russia by 2010

French retail group Auchan has confirmed that it’s planning to open 6 new hypermarkets in Russia by 2010. According to CEO Auchan Russia Jean-Pierre Zhermen, the new hypermarkets will be opened in the largest Russian cities such as St. Petersburg, Ufa, Samara and Kazan, while two hypermarkets will be also opened in Moscow. According to Zhermen, the volume of investments in the business development of Auchan in Russia next year will not be reduced.

Meanwhile this year, Auchan is planning to put into operation five hypermarkets in Russia, one of which has already been opened in St. Petersburg.  By the end of the current year several new hypermarkets will be opened in Omsk, Moscow, Kaluga and Penza.

The launch of a new store in St. Petersburg in 2010 is scheduled for May. Its area will be about 9 thousand square meters.

Zhermen also added that Auchan currently is in talks with several Russian banks, including such famous as Sberbank and Russian Standard, as well as with Visa and Master Card payment systems about the introduction of bank cards.

According to him, at the present, the introduction of such services to the Russian consumers is unprofitable due to high rates. However this project, according to Director General of the Auchan Russia "still can be realized in the future”.

Auchan has been working in Russia since 2002. Currently the company has 34 hypermarkets in the country 11 - in Moscow, 3 - in St. Petersburg, 2 - Rostov-on-Don, and 1 - in Adygeya, Samara, Krasnodar, Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk.


About Groupe Auchan S.A.

Auchan's mammoth markets make room for more than meals. France's second-largest food retailer (behind Carrefour), Auchan operates about 415 hypermarkets (French for supercenters) and some 710 supermarkets in a dozen countries. France is Auchan's largest market, but it has stores throughout Europe and in China, Russia, and Taiwan. (Auchan exited the US and Mexico markets in 2003.) Its hypermarkets carry up to 100,000 products, including groceries, apparel, consumer electronics, and fast food. They also provide travel services. Auchan runs Leroy Merlin, a leading home improvement retail chain in France; a bank; and shopping mall developer Immochan. The founding Mulliez family controls Auchan.

Publication date: 11/3/2009

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