Where and when will the first 15 U-shaped Schiever stores open? [Exclusif]

It will be the 1^is March and no on the 1st^is January, quite simply because Schiever is linked to Eurauchan, Auchan's purchasing center, until February 28 and has commitments with manufacturers. We remember that on February 29, 2024, the group, one of the last independent French food retailers, based in Burgundy, announced that it was leaving Auchan, with which it had been affiliated for… 27 years.

In mid-2023, Auchan began a merger with Intermarché for purchasing, apparently without much regard for its main franchisee. “ I learned about it from the press. We found this to be quite cavalier from such a long-term partner. A separation is never pleasant », then sighs Vincent Picq, PDG de Schiever and representative of the fifth generation of this family group.

From, Guillaume Darrasse, who took over the management of Auchan since April 2, regrets this departure. “ It pushes us to question ourselves », he confided in the forum of the commercial strategies congress organized by LSA at the beginning of October, before adding that the purchase of 18 Casino stores in Corsica by the franchisee Patrick Rocca had made it possible to “ compensate » this departure representing 900 million euros in turnover (Schiever's food business).

Slope and figures

• 
  1,5 Mrd € of turnover including tax, excluding fuel, + 3% in 2023 vs 2022
• 
  80% you CA in food, 20% in non-food
• 
  8 000 employees
• 
  13 hypermarkets94 Bi1 supermarkets and 241 convenience stores, including 117 Maximarché under supply contract with Schiever, 68 stores abroad
• 
  13 brandsincluding 33 Weldom, 6 Kiabi, 4 Hôli (flooring specialist), 31 Intersport (20 Intersport, 5 Intersport Outlet, 4 Blackstore and 2 Go Sport).

Four hypermarkets, ten supermarkets and one convenience store will move to U at the beginning of March

Independent, Schiever then turned to another independent, Système U, which has since become Cooperative U. Started in the fall of 2023, they were completed six months later and materialized with an agreement sealed on February 29, 2024. On paper, marriage should be complementary. It notably allows U, anchored in the west, to consolidate its presence in the center-east of France.

In terms of market share, the contribution of 13 hypermarkets, 94 supermarkets and 241 convenience stores should enable it to gain, according to LSA calculations, 0.7 points. “ It is a challenge on several levels: internal integration and mobilization, but also in terms of win-win development for both. And finally, it is a risk-free, profitable growth challenge. »

Already prepared for several months, the change of brand will take place from 1^is March. Fifteen stores were chosen in several departments, from Nièvre to Côte d'Or, from Moselle to Seine-et-Marne, as shown in the list published exclusively by LSA, and all formats are represented, from l hypermarket, three in number, supermarkets (ten bi1, the Schiever supermarket brand which works on a concept of local produce and quality) and a convenience store, that of Migennes, in Yonne. After more than 300 Casino stores which swapped their brand for Intermarché or Auchan, and 60 Cora stores which became Carrefour, it is Schiever's turn to undergo a transformation.

List of fifteen stores, ex-Auchan or bi1, which become Hyper U, Super U or U Express

1^is mars :

• Saint-Florentin (Yonne) (bi1 => Super U)
• Migennes, Yonne, from bi1 to U Express.

5 mars :

• Avallon, Yonne (Hyper U)
• Cosne-sur-Loire, Nièvre (Hyper U)
• Sens, Yonne (Hyper U)
• Farébersviller, Moselle (Hyper U)
• Tonnerre, Yonne (Super U)
• Châtillon-sur-Seine, Côte d’Or (Super U)
• La Charité sur Loire, Nièvre (Super U)
• 
  Ruaudin, Sarthe (Super U)
• SenneceySaône-et-Loire (Super U)
• Gueugnon, Saône-et-Loire (Super U)
• Souppes-sur-Loing, Seine-et-Marne (Super U)
• Semur-en-Auxois, Côte d’Or (Super U)
• Cluny, Saône-et-Loire (bi1 => Super U)