CARREFOUR is officially opening its doors to the island’s consumers from Monday.
“The company prides itself on everyday low prices, vast choice, superior quality and the unbelievable special offers,” said Carrefour’s Cyprus Manager yesterday.
A special opening promotion will take place every ten minutes in all hypermarkets, giving customers the chance to win shopping carts for free.
Shoppers simply pass their bonus card through a special mechanism inside the hypermarket after they have shopped and they instantly can see if they have won.
Carrefour is the number one retailer in Europe and the world’s number two, with a presence in 29 countries with 12,078 retail stores employing 436,000 people.
Following a partnership with Chris Cash & Carry, Carrefour currently has nine stores on the island – five hypermarkets and four supermarkets. Hypermarkets in Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos have been upgraded and re-named from Chris Cash and Carry to Carrefour.
More are on the way, with two new hypermarkets set to open in Nicosia, in Athalassa and Engomi in 2007.
“The customer is always our number one concern, and as well as offering branded and own-brand products, we also offer various other services such as financial services and petrol stations,” the Cyprus Manager said. “Our aim is to be the best place to shop and work, to be the cheapest in the market and to offer the best range.”
He added that comments from the opening of the first hypermarket in West Limassol, “have been positively complimentary on the access, spaciousness, the low prices, the super specials and also regarding the European atmosphere which makes shopping at Carrefour a unique experience.”
The French company, which opened its first supermarket in Annecy, Haute-Savoire, in 1959, utilises the formats of the hypermarket, supermarket, hard discount and convenience store.
Since 1995, Carrefour has put in place an ambitious policy governing packaging used with Carrefour brand products. The policy emphasises the reduction of packaging weight, recyclability and the elimination of substances presenting a potential environmental risk.
Carrefour tries to buy locally in every country of operation. “This policy reduces the length of supply chains, in turn minimising their environmental impact,” states the company website.
Over recent years, food safety has become of primary concern to consumers. Carrefour has always made a priority of guaranteeing the supply of safe products to its customers with product trace-ability, the testing of the bacteriological quality of products offered for sale and a fast and effective product recall procedure.
