Carrefour brings a new hypermarket format in Romania

French group Carrefour is paving the way for launching Supeco in the Romanian market, a cash&carry hypermarket positioned in the B2C segment. The first units will be probably opened in Giurgiu, Ramnicu Valcea and Targoviste, as for these locations, the retailer has already started recruiting for store manager positions.

“SUPECO is a new store format that aims at offering the consumers low prices, with a focus on fresh products and consumer goods, with a sales area ranging from 1500 to 2000 sqm”, according to the description included in the recruitment ad posted on a specialized website.

This hybrid format is brought here from Spain where was launched last year under the slogan “El cash de la familia” (The  family’s cash&carry).Carrefour operates there four units – three of them in the Andalucia region, also the first opened and other in Parla, near Madrid, which is the largest one with an area of 2200 sqm. In Spain, the retailer has an aggressive strategy which includes very low prices, pushing its own discount brand, promoting an austere layout and allowing the purchase both in bulk and separately.

In Romania, Carrefour operates three store formats – hypermarket, supermarket and Express stores, in a retail network consisting of 166 units. With the new Supeco brand, Carrefour will compete with discount markets such as Penny Market or Lidl and at the same time will enter the wholesale niche controlled by Metro and Selgros.