Walmart to take over Carrefour stores in Delhi, Jaipur, Agra

American retail chain Walmart will replace three of the wholesale stores set up by French group Carrefour in India with its own, sources said.

Carrefour had in July announced it was exiting the India market. It has only a small team left in the country, to conclude the commercial and regulatory transactions. All senior officials, including the then India managing director,  Jean-Noel Bironneau, have returned to France.

With annual global revenue of €100 billion, Carrefour runs about 10,000 stores in 34 countries. KPMG has been helping the French chain sell its assets and exit India.

A source close to the development told Business Standard that Walmart had finalised a deal with the land owners concerned for long-term leases to take up  Carrefour stores in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. However, the American chain refused to comment on “rumours or speculation”. Walmart has said it would expand its number of cash and carry or wholesale stores in India to 50 in the next four to five years, up from 20 now.

In Delhi and Jaipur, these will be Walmart’s first stores. It already has one in Agra. Beside Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, Carrefour had outlets in Bangalore and Meerut.  The readymade stores could give a time advantage of 12 to 18 months to a retailer, say experts.              

Rajneesh Kumar, vice-president of corporate affairs at Walmart, said: “Our planning team is diligently progressing on our growth strategy, as announced earlier, for opening an additional 50 cash and carry stores in the next four to five years in the country. Besides, based on the encouraging response to our B2B (business to business) e-commerce initiative (Hyderabad and Lucknow), we would soon start extending this virtual platform in our remaining stores, in a phased manner.”

Carrefour, the second-largest retail chain in the world after Walmart, had decided to exit India in a little less than four years after opening its first store in the country. In Asia, this was the only market where Carrefour had only cash and carry stores.

Carrefour entered the cash and carry segment in India in 2010, as a stepping stone for making a foray into the supermarket category.  Even when up to 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) was permitted in supermarkets or multi-brand retailing, Carrefour could not identify an Indian partner. Also,  the tough sourcing norms were a hurdle.

The current government is, however, opposed to FDI in multibrands. In cash and carry, 100 per cent FDI is allowed but Carrefour kept losing money in this segment.

EXPANSION

• In Delhi and Jaipur, these will be Walmart’s first stores
   
• Walmart already has a store in Agra
   
• A source said Walmart had finalised the deal with land owners for long-term leases to take up  Carrefour stores in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra