Alex Trelinski
CARREFOUR will open 100 new stores in Spain this year which it says will create 700 jobs.
The announcement comes weeks after its fellow French rival Alcampo said it was cutting 580 jobs and closing 26 outlets in the country.
Carrefour’s expansion will focus primarily on its smaller format Carrefour Express stores rather than hypermarkets, with 46 openings so far this year.
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The chain has opened 691 stores in Spain since 2019, bringing its total to over 1,600 outlets and representing an investment of €150 million.
The added push is Carrefour’s response to the growing pressure from regional supermarket chains and the dominance of Mercadona, which has 1,614 outlets.
Despite all the expansion, Carrefour’s market share has remained stagnant at 9.8%, well behind Mercadona’s 26.6%.
Lidl and Eroski trail behind with market shares of 6.5% and 4.3%, respectively, according to the latest Kantar figures.
Consumer preferences are shifting towards regional chains with local roots and offering a wide selection of local products, reflected in them grabbing an 18% market share.
Data from the employers association Assedas reveals that the number of regional stores has increased from 3,750 in 2021 to 4,130 today, which is one reason that Carrefour is pushing its Express outlets.
Carrefour’s Spanish sales saw a 1.4% like-for-like increase in the first three months of 2025, fuelled by a 2.5% rise in comparable food sales- an improvement over the 1.8% increase seen in the final quarter of 2024.
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