The Casino group brand is launching a new store concept and banking on lowering the prices of more than 100 products. Three stores have already been renovated in the capital.
Since it came under the umbrella of the consortium led by Daniel Kretinsky at the end of March, the new Casino group has been working tirelessly to try to get its head above water and get back on track. After selling off most of its Casino supermarkets and hypermarkets in recent months, the time has come for the new management led by Philippe Palazzi to tackle the revival of the group’s local activities. Franprix, one of the two flagships along with Monoprix created in Paris in 1958, has just launched its new strategy to boost its sales by playing on prices and modernizing stores.
There was urgency. These stores, which benefit from excellent city center locations, have suffered from a lack of investment and overall business strategy in recent years. The last major operation, named “Tangerines”dates back to 2015 when the CEO at the time, Jean-Paul Mochet, had positioned Franprix in a more premium niche, notably by installing orange juice squeezing machines at the entrance to stores. A small success at the time.
Baptized “Oxygen”the new operation aims to make the distributor “the reference for urban proximity” in the next ten years. The objective is ambitious and quantified: management hopes to achieve a 10% increase in turnover for each reconfigured store. “We have a goal which is to have one more product per basket”specifies the general director of Franprix, Vincent Doumerc.
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Franchisees involved in decisions
To achieve this, however, there is no question of imposing this plan on the franchisees who own 950 of the 1,100 stores that the brand has throughout France, including 367 in Paris. “We include all franchisees in the decisions”insists the general manager. The new store concept is first tested in three Parisian boutiques (12th, 20th and 17th arrondissements) during the next three months before being adjusted and presented to all franchisees in the fall.
Having become central to consumer choice since the inflationary crisis, price positioning is key in this strategy. This is all the more so since the brand faces strong competition due to prices that are often higher than those of other distributors. Franprix has therefore decided to lower the prices of fruit and vegetables and nearly 150 everyday products from national brands such as Danette vanilla dessert creams and Président camemberts. The brand is also planning a broader offering that includes more private label products. And is banking on lunch formulas – main course, dessert and drink – “at a fixed and affordable price”around 5 euros.
Another major axis of the operation: the modernization of the stores with the intention of making them more “warm”. The furniture still remains in orange tones but with softer lighting, more modular shelves, and a refined presentation of products designed “at times of consumption” with breakfast, aperitif and snack sections. As for the checkouts, “We avoid installing automatic checkouts. Our mission is to rehumanize society and play the role of neighbor with whom we like to do our shopping.”underlines the general director of the brand.
Finally, the service offering is diversified. With, in particular, the installation of luggage lockers or even connected lockers which allow you to rent everyday equipment, ranging from the drill rented for 3 euros per hour to the croque monsieur-waffle maker for 6 euros per evening.
Management hopes to have transformed some 500 stores over the next four years. The cost of the operation is estimated at less than 1,000 euros per m2, with a third of the financing provided by the group and the rest covered by the franchisees.
