Carrefour

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Carrefour S.A.

Type

Socit Anonyme

Traded as

Euronext: CA

Industry

Retail

Founded

1959

Headquarters

Courcouronne near EVRY (Essonne), France

Key people

Georges Plassat (Chairman and CEO)

Services

Discount, grocery and convenience stores, cash and carry, hypermarkets

Revenue

90.10 billion (2010)[1]

Operating income

1.836 billion (2010)[1]

Profit

433 million (2010)[1]

Total assets

53.65 billion (end 2010)[1] 10.56 billion (end 2010)[1]

Total equity

Employees

471,755 (end 2010)[1]

Subsidiaries

See below

Website

www.carrefour.com

Carrefour S.A. (French pronunciation: [kafu]) is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Courcouronne, France.[2] It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world (1395 hypermarkets at the end of 2009, the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue and third largest in profit after Wal-Mart and Tesco). Carrefour operates mainly in Europe, Argentina, Brazil, China, Taiwan, Colombia, Dominican Republic, U.A.E (Dubai), and in Saudi Arabia, but also has shops in North Africa and other parts of Asia, with most stores being of smaller size than hypermarket or even supermarket. Carrefour means "crossroads" in French.

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Slogans 3 French Slogan 4 French operations 5 International operations o 5.1 Albania o 5.2 Algeria o 5.3 Austria o 5.4 Belgium o 5.5 Bulgaria o 5.6 Brazil o 5.7 Bahrain o 5.8 China o 5.9 Egypt o 5.10 Germany o 5.11 Morocco o 5.12 India o 5.13 Indonesia o 5.14 Iran o 5.15 Iraq

5.16 Jordan 5.17 Kuwait 5.18 Taiwan 5.19 Saudi Arabia 5.20 Oman 5.21 Pakistan 5.22 Portugal 5.23 United Arab Emirates 5.24 United Kingdom 5.25 Previous Operations 5.26 Africa 5.27 Europe 5.28 Americas 6 Store brands 7 Criticism and controversies 8 Boycott of supplies in China 9 Former countries 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

[edit] History
The first Carrefour store opened on January 1, 1958, in suburban Annecy near a crossroads (carrefour in French). The group was created by Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey and Jacques Defforey and grew into a chain from this first sales outlet. In 1995 it merged with Promods, known as Continent, one of its major competitors in the French market. Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey and Jacques Defforey had attended several seminars in the United States led by "The Pope of modern distribution" Bernardo Trujillo, who influenced other famous French executives like douard Leclerc (E.Leclerc), Grard Mulliez (Auchan), Paul Dubrule (Accor), and Grard Plisson (Accor). Their slogan was "No parking, no business." The Carrefour group was the first in Europe to open a hypermarket, a large supermarket and a department store under the same roof. They opened their first hypermarket June 15, 1963 in Sainte-Genevive-des-Bois, near Paris in France.[3]

Carrefour's trading logo In April 1976, Carrefour launched a private label Produits libres (free products libre meaning free in the sense of liberty as opposed to gratis) line of fifty foodstuffs, including oil, biscuits (crackers and cookies), milk, and pasta, sold in unbranded white packages at substantially lower prices.

In September 2009, Carrefour updated its logo.[4] May 2011: Considering the stagnant growth and has faced increased competition in France from rivals including Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, Carrefour will expense 1.5 billion-euro ($2.1 billion) to change the supermarket with new concept as Carrefour Planet in Western Europe.[5]

[edit] Slogans

Carrefour Batu Pahat, Malaysia, which is located in Taman Flora Utama

Hypermarkets: "Choice and quality for everyone" Hypermarkets: "Est bueno para vos" and "Los precios ms bajos, siempre" (Argentina), it means "It's good for you" and "Always the lowest prices" respectively. Hypermarkets: "Ningum faz melhor que o primeiro" (Brazil), meaning "Nobody does better than the first", referring to the fact that Carrefour is the world's first hypermarket and also Brazil's first hypermarket and to other Carrefour firsts, such as the "Lowest price or the difference back" policy. Hypermarkets: "Carrefour, chvere!" (Colombia), it means "Carrefour, nice!". Hypermarkets: "Life, the way I want it"(Singapore) Hypermarkets: "Untuk hidup yang lebih baik" (Indonesia), it means "For a better life" Hypermarkets: "Pentru o via mai bun" (Romania), it means "For a better life" Supermarkets: "The prices people want, close to home" Hard Discount: "Grocery products at low, low prices" Convenience Stores: "Just what you need, right next door" Cash & Carry: "Proximity and accessibility for catering professionals" Hypermarkets, Cash & Carry: " "(Cyprus) means "Every day, for you" Hypermarkets: "Pozytywnie kadego dnia" (Poland), it means "Positively every day"

[edit] French Slogan

1988-2003 : "I have a positive outlook with Carrefour" 2003-2007 : "Energy Wise" 2007-2009 : "Quality for all" 2009-2010 : "The positive outlook is back" Since 2010 : "Positive outlook every day"

February 2, 1998 to July 23, 2004, Carrefour was a partner in the program Le Bigdil presented by Lagaf', a French actor who has the same age as the store. The group used the slogans "Carrefour patrner of the Bigdil" and, at the end, "Was the Bigdil on TF1 with Carrefour", where "Bigdil" is pronounced like "big deal".

[edit] French operations

The chain's Carrefour Hypermarket division has its head office in Courcouronnes, Essonne, France, near vry.[6]

[edit] International operations

[edit] Albania
In November 26, 2011, Carrefour opened its first store in Albania as part of TEG Shopping Center (Tirana East Gate) with the same rights as in the European Union and throughout the rest of Europe. Carrefour is integrated in the new shopping center in the same format as in other countries extending into a space of about 7000 square meters. Carrefour will have a policy of supplying imported products while promoting Albanian products, particularly agroindustrial ones.

[edit] Algeria [edit] Austria

In 1976 Carrefour opened a store in the Shopping City Sd at the southern edge of Vienna. Due to limited success the store closed soon after. Courrefour has not made any other attempt at entering the Austrian market thereafter.

[edit] Belgium [edit] Bulgaria

From 2009 to 2011 in Bulgaria are opened five hypermarkets resided in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Ruse. In 2010, Carrefour and Marinopoulos Group, the largest group of retail in Greece, established a franchise company MSC Bulgaria to develop hypermarkets and supermarkets under the Carrefour banner on the Balkans.

[edit] Brazil
Carrefour in Brazil was founded in 1975 and today it is one of the major super markets of Brazil in competition with Extra, Wal-Mart, Po de Aucar and others and now sell more than 25 million products per year.

[edit] Bahrain

Carrefour has also opened a franchise owned branch in the Bahrain City Centre in 2008.

[edit] China
In 2007, expansion accelerated outside France, particularly in Asia, with the building of 36 new hypermarkets, including 22 in China where the Group broke its record for store openings in a one-year period.It was the leading foreign retailer, in terms of sales figures, until 2008 and has since lost its #1 position to RT-mart.

78th store of Carrefour China ZhongShanPark, Shanghai, open June 6, 2006.

[edit] Egypt
Carrefour has seven outlets under franchise in Egypt, which are often situated in shopping malls and frequented by the Egyptian upper class. The location in Alexandria was severely looted during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

[edit] Germany [edit] Morocco

Carrefour has 10 hypermarkets in Morocco, with the most being located in and around the Casablanca metropolitan area. Carrefour Maroc is a partner of Label'vie, a Moroccan supermarket chain. All the Label'Vie stores are transformed into Carrefour Markets. There are 30 of them widely spread around the kingdom. Carrefour is still expanding its presence in Morocco by opening more supermarkets and hypermarkets to face the settled competition like the Moroccan-French hypermarket chain Marjane.

[edit] India

The new store, Carrefour Wholesale Cash&Carry in Seelampur area of National Capital New Delhi is spread across 5,200 square meter and will house over 10,000 stock-keeping units to cater to professional businesses, institutions, restaurants and local retailers. Carrefour opened up its 2nd Wholesale Cash&Carry in the Indian Metropolitan of Jaipur, which is also the capital of Rajasthan and a major tourist destination. The store in Jaipur is almost the same size as Delhi. Since the FDI policy in India does not allow foreign companies to open multi-brand retail stores in the country, global retailers have opted for the cash-and-carry route to establish their presence here.

[edit] Indonesia
Besides Carrefour stores, per end of November 2011 Carrefour also has 5,670 Alfamart (IDX=AMRT) which mostly minimart, while per end of December 2010 has 4,812 Alfamart.[7]

[edit] Iran
In February 2009, Carrefour opened its first store in Iran in Western region of Tehran. Five other stores are to be opened sincerely in Shiraz (2011), Isfahan (2012), Eastern region of Tehran, Mashhad and Tabriz.

[edit] Iraq
Carrefour is to open 5 stores in Iraq in the city of Erbil in 2011.

[edit] Jordan
Carrefour also operates in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in a joint venture with Majid al Futtaim.[8]

[edit] Kuwait
In March 2007, Carrefour opened a store in Kuwait in the Avenues mall.

[edit] Taiwan
In 1989, Carrefour became the first international retailer to establish a presence in Asia when it entered Taiwan through a joint venture with Uni President Enterprises Corporation. It leveraged the experience it gathered in Taiwan to expand into other Asian markets.

[edit] Saudi Arabia

Carrefour also has 11 franchise operated hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia, with 5 of them being in the capital Riyadh itself.

[edit] Oman

In Oman, Carrefour opened a store in 2003 on the outskirts of the city of Muscat. And in 2008, another branch opened in Qurum. In May 2011 Carrefour opened a store in the nizwa 7 hyper markets

[edit] Pakistan
Carrefour opened up its first store in Lahore, Pakistan in a joint venture with MAF in 2009 under the name of Hyperstar, and a second store in Karachi in 2011, with a third store under construction in the city.

[edit] Portugal
In Portugal, Carrefour retail sold their stake in Continente Modelo to Sonae for 345 million on 16 November 2004.[9] In 2008, Carrefour sold its Portuguese retail ventures existing under the Carrefour ensign to Sonae.

[edit] United Arab Emirates

Carrefour also operates in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in a joint venture with Majid al Futtaim.[8]

[edit] United Kingdom

Carrefour had several hypermarkets in the UK until the 1980s. They were located in Leyland,[10] Caerphilly (South Wales), Merry Hill in Dudley, Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham), Glasshoughton (near Castleford), Eastleigh (near Southampton), MetroCentre in Gateshead, Telford Shopping Centre (Shropshire), Boroughbridge (North Yorkshire), Swindon and Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. All stores were later acquired by the Dee Corporation, but continued to trade as Carrefour for some time before being converted to Gateway Superstores. Some of the old Carrefour stores in the UK are now branches of Asda, for example the Merry Hill store which opened on 1 July 1986 but was converted into a Gateway in 1988 and since 1990 has traded as an Asda.[11] As of July 14, 2011, a range of Carrefour's products are sold in the UK via Ocado.[12]

[edit] Previous Operations

In 2006, Carrefour decided to sell all 16 stores in Korea to E-Land and exited their business in Korea. In 2010, Carrefour decided to leave Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. However, in November 2010, Carrefour decided to sell its Thailand operations, but the Malaysian and Singaporean operation, will retain.[13] Country India First store 2010 Hypermarkets Supermarkets 2 Hard Discounters 2 Cash & Carry 1

Country China Indonesia Bahrain Japan Jordan Kuwait Malaysia Oman Pakistan Iran Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Syria Taiwan United Arab Emirates[14]

First store 1995 1998 2008 2000 2007 2007 1994 2000 2009 2009 2000 2004 1997 2009 1989 1995

Hypermarkets Supermarkets 184 84 1 7 1 2 22 2 2 2 3 11 2 1 64 11 15 3 5 2

Hard Discounters -

Cash & Carry

[edit] Africa
Country First store Hypermarkets Supermarkets Hard Discounters 2002 4 5 Egypt 10 30 Morocco 2009 2001 1 2 Tunisia 2005 Closed Algeria Carrefour has left Algeria in 2009, and opened in Morocco.

[edit] Europe
First Hard Hypermarkets Supermarkets store Discounters 2011 1 Albania 3 3 Azerbaijan 2010 2000 56 280 Belgium 5 1 Bulgaria 2009 2006 7 8 Cyprus 1960 218 1,021 897 France 1991 28 210 397 Greece 1972 35 210 398 Ireland 1993 59 485 Italy Country Convenience Cash & Stores Carry 257 3,245 134 216 73 4 1,015 20

Country Monaco Poland Portugal Romania Spain Slovakia Slovenia Turkey United Kingdom

First Hard Hypermarkets Supermarkets store Discounters 1 1997 72 277 1991 365 2001 24 39 1973 161 87 2,912 1998 15 12 6 1998 15 12 6 1993 19 99 519 1972 38 10 400

Convenience Cash & Stores Carry 5 3 1,95 2 1,98 2 90 4

Carrefour has 161 hypermarkets in Spain, is the second most important country of the Carrefour's group, also they have around 2000 supermarkets On October 15, 2009, Carrefour announced plans to sell its Russian business, citing "absence of sufficient organic growth and acquisition opportunities".[15]

[edit] Americas

Carrefour has a presence in 4 countries in the Americas: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. Carrefour is active in 3 types of retail distribution: hypermarkets, supermarkets and hard discounters, and entered the Cash & Carry market in Brazil, after the purchase of Atacado.[16] Carrefour was also active in Mexico between 1995 and 2005, when the 29 hypermarkets opened at the moment were sold to Chedraui. Country Argentina Brazil Colombia Dominican Republic First Hard Convenience Cash & Hypermarkets Supermarkets store Discounters Stores Carry 1982 59 103 395 1975 150 38 300 5 34 1998 70 24 4 2000 5 10 20 85

[edit] Store brands

8 Huit store in tretat Hypermarkets Carrefour, Atacado, Hyperstar. Supermarkets Carrefour Bairro, Carrefour Express, Carrefour Market (Formerly Champion as of 2008), Champion Mapinomovaoe, Globi, GB, GS[disambiguation needed ], Carrefour Cafe, Carrefour mini, Gima. Hard discount stores Dia, Ed, Minipreo. Convenience stores Carrefour City, 5 minutes, 8 Huit, Marche Plus, Proxi (supermarket), Sherpa, Dperd, Smile Market, Ok!, Express, Shopi (supermarket). Cash & Carry Carrefour Contact, Promocash, Docks Market, Gross IPer.

Carrefour City, Paris

[edit] Criticism and controversies

The Carrefour supermarket at Faa'a, Tahiti, French Polynesia On May 1, 2007, more than 30 employees of the now closed Carrefour Ratu Plaza, Jakarta, Indonesia, were taken to the Central Pertamina Hospital (Rumah Sakit Pusat Pertamina), after being poisoned by CO2. The hypermarket was located on the mall's basement, which offered insufficient ventilation.[17] On June 26, 2007 the company was convicted in a French court for false advertising. The suit alleged that Carrefour regularly stocked insufficient quantities of advertised products for sale. In addition, the company was convicted of selling products below cost and accepting kickbacks from wholesalers. Carrefour was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million and to prominently and legibly display a notice in all of its French stores disclosing the false advertising.[18] In Carrefour Mangga Dua Square, Jakarta, Indonesia, a 5-metre high metal rack fell on top of a 3-year old boy, killing him almost instantly due to internal bleeding.[when?][19] Afterwards, the victim's family claimed that Carrefour has refused to meet with them to settle the case.[20] However, Carrefour Corporate Affairs Officer denied this allegation[21] Carrefour has also received criticism for engaging in sweatshop practices.[22] On May 7, 2009, the French government asked a tribunal to fine Carrefour some 220,000 for more than 2,500 violations. Meat products lacked proper tracking information (more than 25% of inventory at some locations), and some products had incorrect labels such as meat products that "shrank" in weight by 15% after receiving labels. The chain sold products that had long since passed their expiration dates, including, in one case, packs of baby formula that had expired six months earlier. Some 1,625 frozen and refrigerated products were found that had been stored in warehouses at ambient temperature.[23]

[edit] Boycott of supplies in China

A Carrefour outlet in Beijing, China, promotes the use of canvas bags as opposed to plastic bags prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics. In April 2008, after the 2008 Olympic torch relay was disrupted by Tibetan independence advocates in London and especially Paris, where some protesters attempted to wrest control of the torch from torch bearers, Chinese activists have promoted boycotting Carrefour because of its French roots.[24] The boycott of Carrefour in particular was further fueled by unsubstantiated rumours that a major shareholder, Mot Hennessy Louis Vuitton, had donated to the Dalai Lama. In its response, Carrefour China stated that it does support the Beijing Olympics; and that they will never do anything to harm the feelings of Chinese people.[25] Protests occurred in and around a number of Carrefour outlets throughout China, and anti-Carrefour advocates campaigned for a one-day boycott of Carrefour on May Day, a public holiday in China. As a result of the boycott, Chinese search engines Baidu.com.cn and sina.com blocked access to Carrefour's website in China for a short time. Users searching Carrefour in China, were sent an error page indicating "The search result may contain illegal content, so we can not display the result." in Chinese.[26]

[edit] Former countries

Former Carrefour store in Minoh City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Former Carrefour store in Bangkok, Thailand

Carrefour Munro, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Previous branch of Carrefour in Niteri, Brazil (will be replaced by a Atacado branch)

Chile In 2004, Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets in Chile to D&S; Czech Republic In September 2005, Carrefour sold to Tesco (the biggest UK retailer) 11 stores in the Czech Republic. Tesco paid 57.4 million as well as its stores in Taiwan. Carrefour had opened its first store in 1998 in the Czech Republic. The stores use the Tesco name and brand now; Hong Kong On September 18, 2000,[27][28] Carrefour closed its stores in Hong Kong after complaints from manufacturers about selling products (especially electronics) at prices far below those of its competitors.[29][citation needed] A company spokesman said at that time that the closures were due to "difficulties in finding sites suitable for developing its hypermarket concept and quickly acquiring a significant market share". Carrefour had entered the Hong Kong market in December 1996 with a store in Heng Fa Chuen and had later added stores in Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. Plans to open additional stores in Ma On Shan and Tseung Kwan O had been cancelled.[28] Japan In 2005, Carrefour sold its 8 hypermarkets to AEON Group; Mexico In March 2005, Carrefour sold its 29 hypermarkets in Mexico to Chedraui. Carrefour had opened its first store in 1995 in Mexico, However, there were rumors he returned Mexico trough Comercial Mexicana stores; Portugal Carrefour entered Portugal by buying its first stores in 1991 two Euromach hypermarkets, in Telheiras (a Lisbon neighbourhood) and Vila Nova de Gaia (suburbs of

Porto); This chain was known to have very good quality products, mainly from French origin, when in July 2007 Carrefour sold all of its 12 hypermarkets and 9 fuel stations to Sonae for 662 million. Also included were 11 licenses for opening new commercial spaces. Nowadays only the 365 hard-discount supermarkets (Minipreo) are supported by Carrefour in this country, not included in the takeover. Russia Carrefour entered Russian market in Summer of 2009. In October 2009, only a month after it opened its second hypermarket in the country, Carrefour announced it was exiting Russia. South Korea In 2006, Carrefour sold its 32 hypermarkets to E-Land. The stores have been re-branded as Homever. Switzerland In August 2007 Carrefour sold its 12 hypermarkets in Switzerland to Swiss retailer Coop for $390 million;[30] Thailand - Carrefour's business in Thailand was sold to Big C Supercenter Public Company Limited, the owner of Big C hypermarket stores in Thailand. The transaction is completed in March 2011, with the Suwintawong branch being the first changed brand store from Carrefour to Big C.[31] Carrefour entered the Thai market in 1996. United Kingdom Carrefour had several hypermarkets in the UK until the end of the 1980s. The first of these was opened in the early 1970s in Caerphilly, South Wales. Subsequent outlets were opened at Merry Hill, Dudley; Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham; Glasshoughton (near Castleford); Eastleigh, Hampshire; MetroCentre (Gateshead); Telford Shopping Centre, Shropshire; Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire; Swindon and Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. All stores were later acquired by the Dee Corporation, but continued to trade as Carrefour for some time before being converted to Gateway Superstores. Today many of the old Carrefour stores in the UK are branches of Asda, notably the branch at the Merry Hill store in the West Midlands; it had opened in July 1986 as one of the complex's first tenants, only to become a Gateway when Carrefour pulled out of Britain in 1988; it became an Asda in 1990 when Gateway withdrew from Merry Hill. In 2011, they returned to the UK market via a supply deal with Ocado.[12] United States Carrefour opened hypermarkets in Philadelphia and Voorhees Township, New Jersey, in 1988 and 1992 respectively. Both stores closed in 1994. Some associates wore roller skates to facilitate moving about the large building. The Voorhees location now houses a Kohl's department store, a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store, and a Marshalls discount clothing store. The Philadelphia location (within the Franklin Mills Mall complex) houses a few stores, including a Walmart, which will close and move to the main Franklin Mills complex later in 2011, and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Big Bazaar
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Big Bazaar

Type

Public

Industry

Retailing

Founded

2001

Headquarters

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Products

Department store

Employees

More than 40000 people

Parent

Future Group

Divisions

~100

Website

Big Bazaar

Big Bazaar is a chain of hypermarket in India. Currently,[when?] there are 210 stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, and is owned through a wholly owned subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited(BSE: 523574 523574), that is listed on Indian stock exchanges.

The Big Bazaar at Esplanade, Kolkata.

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Operations 3 Innovations o 3.1 Wednesday Bazaar o 3.2 Maha Bachat 4 Timeline 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History
Big Bazaar was launched in September, 2001 with the opening of its first four stores in Calcutta, Indore, Bangalore and Hyderabad in 22 days. Within a span of ten years, there are now 150 Big Bazaar stores in 80 cities and towns across India. Big Bazaar was started by Kishore Biyani, the Group CEO and Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail. Though Big Bazaar was launched purely as a fashion format including apparel, cosmetics, accessory and general merchandise, over the years Big Bazaar has

included a wide range of products and service offerings under their retail chain. The current formats includes Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar.

[edit] Operations

The Big Bazaar Store in Nagpur.

Most Big Bazaar stores are multi-level and are located in stand-alone buildings in city centers as well as within shopping malls. These stores offer over 200,000 SKUs in a wide range of categories led primarily by fashion and food products. Food Bazaar, a supermarket format was incorporated within Big Bazaar in 2002 and is now present within every Big Bazaar as well as in independent locations. A typical Big Bazaar is spread across around 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of retail space. While the larger metropolises have Big Bazaar Familycentres measuring between 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) and 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2), Big Bazaar Express stores in smaller towns measure around 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2). Big Bazaar has the facility to purchase products online through its official web page, and offers free shipping on some of their products.[1]

[edit] Innovations
[edit] Wednesday Bazaar
Big Bazaar introduced the Wednesday Bazaar concept and promoted it as Hafte Ka Sabse Sasta Din. It was mainly to draw customers to the stores on Wednesdays, when least number of customers are observed. According to the chain, the aim of the concept is "to give home makers the power to save the most and even the stores in the city don a fresh look to make customers feel that it is their day".[2]

[edit] Maha Bachat

Maha Bachat was started off in 2006 as a single day campaign with attractive promotional offers across all Big Bazaar stores. Over the years it has grown into a 6 days biannual campaign. It has attractive offers in all its value formats such as Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar - catering to the entire needs of a consumer.[3]

[edit] Timeline

Big Bazaar at Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway in Ahmedabad 2001

Three Big Bazaar stores launched within a span of 22 days in Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad[4]

2002

Big Bazaar - ICICI Bank Card is launched. Food Bazaar becomes part of Big Bazaar with the launch of the first store in Mumbai at High Street Phoenix

2003

Big Bazaar enters Tier II cities with the launch of the store in Nagpur Big Bazaar welcomes its 10 million-th customer at its new store in Gurgaon

2004

Big Bazaar wins its first award and national recognition. Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar awarded the countrys most admired retailer award in value retailing and food retailing segment at the India Retail Forum A day before Diwali, the store at Lower Parel becomes the first to touch Rs 10 million turnover on a single day

2005

Initiates the implementation of SAP and pilots a RFID project at its central warehouse in Tarapur Launches a unique shopping program: the Big Bazaar Exchange Offer, inviting customers to exchange household junk at Big Bazaar Electronic Bazaar and Furniture Bazaar are launched

2006

Mohan Jadhav sets a national record at Big Bazaar Sangli with a Rs 1,37,367 shopping bill. The Sangli farmer becomes Big Bazaars largest ever customer. Big Bazaar launches Shakti, Indias first credit card program tailored for housewives Navaras the jewellery store launched within Big Bazaar stores

2007

The 50th Big Bazaar store is launched in Kanpur Big Bazaar partners with Futurebazaar.com to launch India's most popular shopping portal Big Bazaar initiates the Power of One campaign to help raise funds for the Save The Children India Fund Pantaloon Retail wins the International Retailer of the Year at US-based National Retail Federation convention in New York and Emerging Retailer of the Year award at the World Retail Congress held in Barcelona.

2008

Big Bazaar becomes the fastest growing hypermarket format in the world with the launch of its 101st store within 7 years of launch Big Bazaar dons a new look with a fresh new section, Fashion@Big Bazaar Big Bazaar joins the league of Indias Business Superbrands. It is voted among the top ten service brands in the country in the latest Pitch-IMRB international survey

2009

Big Bazaar opens its second store in Assam at Tinsukia Big Bazaar initiates Maha Annasantarpane program at its stores in South India a unique initiative to offer meals to visitors and support local social organisations Big Bazaar captures almost one-third share in food and grocery products sold through modern retail in India

2010

Future Value Retail Limited is formed as a specialized subsidiary to spearhead the groups value retail business through Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and other formats. Big Bazaar wins CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards for the third consecutive year. Adjudged the most preferred Most Preferred Multi Brand Food & Beverage Chain, Most Preferred Multi Brand Retail Outlet and Most Preferred Multi Brand One Stop Shop Big Bazaar connects over 30,000 small and medium Indian manufacturers and entrepreneurs with around 200 million customers visiting its stores Big Bazaar opens its third store in Kanpur at Z Square Mall Big Bazaar shuold opens its fourth store in Kanpur at Jajmau which is the largest leather tannery garrison of Asia