the essential
On July 1, the Carrefour group will take possession of the Super U supermarket in the Albasud area. Yet another change of ownership in a particularly tormented history.
The summer transfer window does not only concern athletes, but it also applies to commercial brands. In Albasud, it’s an old refrain that comes up at regular intervals. On July 1, Carrefour, via the Dejean family group (no relation to logistics), based in Millau, will replace Super U at the front of this supermarket which is struggling to find its place in a Montalbanian universe as ruthless as in Dallas.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror is enough to convince yourself of this.
“Insufficient level of activity”
After the closure of the Géant Casino in June 2019, Intermarché took over, before giving up tiredly in October 2021. Never mind, Super U is entering the dance just as motivated as its predecessors. After three years of operation, a record in the local context, Ludovic Lesoudier, who also manages the Super U of Granada, finally threw in the towel to “hand the baby over” to Carrefour. “We did not meet our audience and the level of activity was insufficient to ensure the sustainability of the store,” he concedes, before offering several explanations. We suffered from two factors: I was unable to obtain a hypermarket brand, which allows us to have increased strength in terms of communication and sales. We remained a local supermarket. We were also victims of the desertification of the shopping mall which belonged to the Parisian property company Marcialys. They came into 2021 with a 90% vacancy rate and they did nothing. Today we are at 98% vacancy. »
The restructured shopping mall
But what the hell is Carrefour doing in this mess? If the Dejean group refuses to communicate for the moment, Ludovic Lesoudier has some arguments. “They come with a large financial base and they will have hypermarket status. They will also own the shopping mall and they will undertake heavy work to restructure it and bring in brands. There will be services (hairdresser, barber, etc.), but also medium-sized stores such as home equipment, decoration or non-food discount brands. We need to generate a lot more flow. Personally, I only controlled 50% of the commercial dynamics and I had no power over the shopping mall. »
Carrefour intends to take over all 75 Montalban employees and plans some recruitments. The store will be exceptionally closed on June 30 (remember to use your U card before this fateful date). On July 1, a new page will be written in the Albasud area. With Carrefour, I am positive.
