Carrefour Italia declares 175 redundancies in its main headquarters in Milan. It is 25% outgoing, transversely to the various functions and the various levels, compared to the 700 employees declared as a total organic by the French group of large -scale distribution (large -scale distribution), led in Italy by the A.D. Christophe rebatel. After the communication of the afternoon of Friday 4 July, the debate was immediately rekindled on a probable exit of the point of view from the peninsula, in the wake of recent indiscretions not confirmed and published by the German magazine Food newspaper And then from Financial Timesgiven that the whole group Carrefour is the subject of attention on the market.
The previous Auchan
In Italy, in particular, any exit from the national market recalls the Auchan’s memory in 2019 (whose activities were largely acquired by Conad). However, the eventual departure of Carrefour seems like a longer history, a hypothesis that has been dragging for more time and that certainly has intertwined his tricolor adventure to the history of Italian retail, crossing the destinies of GS and the IRI group, of entrepreneurial names of the caliber of the Caprotti familyOf Marco Brunelli, Leonardo Del Vecchio e Gilberto Benetton. Auchan and Carrefour in common have, if anything, a historical and very French positioning in hypermarkets, format today in strong crisis, even if Carrefour has reduced its exposure over time.
The reasons of the 175 redundancies
Today, of course, there is only the motivation with which Carrefour Italia Motive the cuts: «The decision is closely connected to the complexity of the conditions of the Italian market, within which the GDO sector is characterized by one competition Intense and fragmented, in the face of a decreased purchasing power and constant pressure on the margins ». According to what appears to Italiaoggiil dossier On the transfer of Carrefour Italia it circulates but the hypothesized price, equal to about the turnover (4.2 billion euros, down by 2.6%, at the end of 2024), did not arouse great enthusiasm at the moment. Above all because the sign has now held towards a model of franchising (900 stores on 1,200), which is why the risk is not excluded that a buyer will buy the business and then see the franchisees pass to another competing group. Now in Carrefour Italia remains the important alliance with Etruria Retail (at least until the expiry of next year), in addition to the garrison of the proximity Thanks to the Express and Market formats.
Spezzatino hypothesis
Always according to unconfirmed hypotheses, in the dilemma sale yes sale no, the possibility of a stew in which the various distribution poles (cited by the press as Lidl, Esselunga e Conad) can be more interested in groups of shops located in particular territories.
Moreover, the streamlining of today’s labor costs can be the warning of both a more imminent transfer and a further adaptation of the group to the business in franchising model, after years in which Rabatel has gradually contained the costs (redundancies have already been in recent years) and has prompted the franchising up to the current 75% of the total network.
French leaders expiring
However, the decision to leave Italy will fall to Milan from Paris and from the A.D desk. global Alexandre Bompardwhich however has the mandate expiring next year. So, a third way appears on the future of Carrefour Italiabetween the transfer or not: to take time. In October 2024 Rabatel (in office since October 2020) had specified that he was only “halfway” in the “cleaning of the sales network».
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