Carrefour will provide ‘technical support’ such as providing expertise in logistics and supply chain support to the Indian franchisee.
Carrefour SA, the world’s No. 2 retailer, said it will roll out fully-owned stores to sell to wholesalers in India by mid-2009 even as the company is in talks with three Indian companies to open the French firm’s franchisee stores that will sell directly to Indian consumers.
Carrefour has floated two separate units in India - Carrefour WC & C India Pvt. Ltd will roll out fully-owned wholesale stores and Carrefour India Master Franchise Co. Pvt. Ltd will enlist an Indian company to open the French firm’s branded stores in the country.
The Indian franchisee will open Carrefour brand hypermakets in India and Carrefour’s 100%-owned cash and carry stores will feed it, said Herve Clec’h, managing director of Carrefour in India.
‘We are talking to three very willing Indian partners who will bring dimension to the business in a country the size of India,’ said Gerard Freiszmuth, general manager for Carrefour in India. He declined to name the Indian companies they are in talks with, but ‘it could be a conglomerate, a developer, a financial institution or even a retailer.’
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