French grocer Carrefour has kicked off the rebrand of the 60 Cora stores it acquired in July, the company announced on Tuesday.

The French retailer said the rebranding would be carried out in three stages, with 19 stores getting a makeover at the beginning of October.

Initially, the branding and signage will be replaced in stores with around 6,000 products gradually changing to those produced by Carrefour.

Carrefour said that customers will benefit from a price drop of at least 10 per cent on over 3,000 items and that shoppers will be able to access Carrefour’s loyalty program and financial services from 2025.

“This changeover will take place without store closure, with all the necessary information to guarantee a high-quality purchasing experience,” said Julien Munch, Carrefour France operations director. “Quickly, this new customer base will be able to benefit from the many commercial advantages that make Carrefour strong throughout France: lower prices, attractive promotional offers and a private label with the best quality/price ratio, popular with consumers.”

Carrefour finalised the acquisition of the 60 Cora hypermarkets and 115 Match stores in July this year. They are located in the east and north of France where Carrefour has historically had little presence.

The new stores represent around 2.4 per cent of the food distribution market share in France and have an enterprise value of around €1.05 billion.

Carrefour obtained a waiver from the French Competition Authority to finalise the transaction. Carrefour said the competition issues are “limited” and customers will benefit from the merger.

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