October 1st is D-day for the first wave of Cora/Carrefour switchover. 19 hypermarkets are involved in a phase which should lead, depending on the case, to “full Carrefour” stores within 2 to 3 weeks. Follow me for the visit to Ermont (95)…
First step: removal of the sign and all identity elements. In Ermont, for example, yesterday afternoon, the two boxes at the pediment were still there (scheduled removal during the night). The “large volume” tent had already lost the word Cora but kept the oval. On the other hand, the trolleys were already “branded” Carrefour.
Backstage, the owner (Frédéric Guery) distributed the new Carrefour outfits in the morning. Employees should introduce them from Thursday or Friday, when the new sign will be installed and sufficient identity elements in place. “Well, that said, if some people want to put on their new outfit first, no problem,” smiles Julien Munch, head of Carrefour operations in France.
On the sales floor, the Carrefour “leg” is still little seen but must gain visibility as the days go by, until October 25 when the hypermarket will offer Bamboche to its customers (yes, I know, I like the “bamboche”). Concretely, therefore, the good deals section is already half in Carrefour colors (so more than half in Cora colors). Likewise, the “aerial” posters with price markers, characteristic of Carrefour, have already arrived.
In detail of the categories, Carrefour also reviews the locations. Little by little, the PGC / Frais LS is reviewed, aisle by aisle. Example in DPH. Traditionally, in the Carrefour logic, dental is a key to entry into the universe, therefore “connected” to the direction of traffic. That wasn’t the case with Cora. It is now here in Ermont. Another merger in progress: private labels. Today begins a month of matching between the Cora and Carrefour ranges with a common incentive: €5 prize pool for €40 in purchases.
Carrefour’s objective: to transform Cora hypermarkets each time in 2 to 3 weeks, without closure or (too much) disruption for customers. Customers who, here in Ermont, will leave the parking lot with their future new brand in mind: Carrefour.
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