Yerevan finally says hello to Carrefour

The first Carrefour hypermarket finally opened in Yerevan today at Yerevan Mall multifunctional center. It is the first one because the Armenian market provides wide opportunities to open several other hypermarkets as well. The opening ceremony was attended by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan, and Director of Carrefour’s Armenian Office Christian De Nale.

“We are working in two directions: we think about purchasing capacity of our customers so we are going to launch various actions that will be cheaper than those of our competitors. Secondly, we will prioritize Armenian manufacturers , and you can see today the Armenian production highlighted and separated in the hypermarket,” De Nale noted, adding that negotiations are underway with Armenian Agriculture Ministry about exports of Armenian production.

As for the opening of other stores, Mr. Nale said that the company intends to expand because Yerevan needs several such hypermarkets.

By the way, the director said that Carrefour’s shares are divided into two parts: Carrefour France whose shareholders are French citizens who have a franchise, one of which is Majid Al Futtaim that owns the Carrefour hypermarket in Yerevan. When asked by Aysor.am if Carrefour’s Yerevan hypermarket was opened by the company representing the UAE, Mr. De Nale replied:

“Yes, we belong to Majid Al Futtaim Group whose office is in Dubai”.

Yerevan’s Carrefour has numerous offers to save its customers’ time. Here, they will have an opportunity to buy not only food, including fast food, fresh fruit and vegetables, but also clothes, electric appliances, and even flowers, with many discounts being offered.

As was reported, the agreement on preliminary lease of the premises was signed between Carrefour and Yerevan Mall on May 13, 2014  in the presence of Presidents of Armenia and France, Serzh Sargsyan and Francois Hollande, during the French president’s state visit to Armenia.