Where did it all go wrong for Carrefour? That’s the question to ponder as the once-mighty French supermarket retailer closes the last of its stories in Xuzhou in northern Jiangsu. Its glimmer of hope? A brand-new business model.
家乐福到底哪里出了问题？当这家曾经强大的法国超市零售商结束其在江苏北部徐州的最后一个故事时，这是值得思考的问题。这是一线希望吗？一种全新的商业模式。
On 27 June was posted a notice on the doors of Carrefour’s Xuzhou Jindi store advising as to opening hours for the following day. In fact, it was a formal farewell.
6月27日，家乐福徐州金地店门口贴出通知，告知次日营业时间。事实上，这是一次正式的告别。
The knock-on effect was felt immediately by businesses sharing the shopping complex with Carrefour. With no more footfall to the supermarket, so they too starting to hang up notices, reading, “Due to the closure of Carrefour, this store is temporarily closed…”
与家乐福共享购物中心的企业立即感受到了连锁反应。由于超市里已经没有人流了，他们也开始贴出告示，上面写着“由于家乐福关门，本店暂时停业……”
Carrefour entered Xuzhou in 2000, opening up in the city centre, and with endless queues at the check outs, was able to sit back and enjoy the good times. At that time, even with competition from the likes of RT-Mart and Suguo, Carrefour was still thought to be the best.
家乐福于2000年进入徐州，在市中心开业，在结账处排起长队的情况下，却能高枕无忧地享受美好时光。当时，即使有大润发、苏果等竞争，家乐福仍然被认为是最好的。
But the clouds on the horizon were e-commerce and COVID. Both were to make life very difficult for Carrefour.
但地平线上的乌云是电子商务和新冠疫情。两者都让家乐福的日子变得非常艰难。
Beginning last summer, rumours began circulating that Carrefour was about to go bankrupt. Many people, especially those with stored-value cards, went a little nuts in buying up the retailer’s stock while they thought they could.
从去年夏天开始，家乐福即将破产的传闻就开始流传。许多人，尤其是那些拥有储值卡的人，在他们认为可以的时候疯狂地购买了零售商的股票。
2023 was not about to get any better. Since April, no less than 12 Carrefour stores in China have announced their closures. Most sadly, they include their very first outlet in China, which opened in 1995 and was known as the country’s “first real superstore”.
2023 年情况并没有好转。 4月份以来，中国已有不少于12家家乐福门店宣布关闭。最遗憾的是，他们在中国的第一家门店于 1995 年开业，被称为中国“第一家真正的超市”。
As to the future, Carrefour is redefining its position with two different tiers of stores. Firstly, the giant branches that remain are likely to be repackaged as membership stores, in much the same vein as Sam’s Club.
展望未来，家乐福正在通过两个不同层次的门店重新定义自己的定位。首先，剩下的大型分店可能会被重新包装成会员店，就像山姆会员店一样。
Then there is that revealed by Zhang Kui, CEO of Carrefour China, at an internal meeting in March, as an article on Sohu reports. The key term was, “near-field retail-service provider”.
据搜狐报道，家乐福中国首席执行官张奎在3月份的内部会议上透露了这一点。关键词是“近场零售服务提供商”。
Publicly though, they are being called “community quality life centres”, and they are rolling out in Beijing, Kunming, Shanghai, Shenyang, Wuxi and other cities. Xuzhou too; expect them in Nanjing soon.
但在公开场合，它们被称为“社区品质生活中心”，并在北京、昆明、上海、沉阳、无锡等城市推广。徐州也；期待他们很快到达南京。
The move comes from the developments observed that when traditional retail is increasingly impacted by e-commerce, people’s shopping habits are more inclined toward community-based retail businesses.
此举源于观察到的发展，当传统零售越来越受到电子商务的影响时，人们的购物习惯更倾向于社区零售业务。
It’s the right move to be making. With us all going on fewer and fewer trips to big supermarkets in favour of e-commerce and our brick and mortar shopping now at small local retailers (that pint of milk), Carrefour’s new model might just save them yet.
这是正确的举动。随着我们去大型超市的次数越来越少，转而选择电子商务，而我们现在在当地的小型零售商（即一品脱牛奶）进行实体购物，家乐福的新模式可能会拯救他们。
