The international Carrefour franchise will open 50 new branches in Israel at midday on Tuesday in a launch that cost its Electra Consumer Products parent company NIS 250 million, Globes reported.
Until Sunday, the new branches, which were closed for the past two days to enable staff to stock shelves and change prices, belonged to the Yeinot Bitan, Mega and Super supermarket chains.
Carrefour currently operates 14,000 branches in 49 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, East Asia and South America, and produces some 14,000 different food products under 20 brands.
“A lot of the prices are being dropped,” one worker at the Be’er Sheva branch of Carrefour told JewishPress.com. The staff member, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak with media, added that the new company “is bringing in a lot of new Mehadrin products, items with top kosher supervision.”
The festive opening will include a ribbon-cutting, complete with a red carpet, and will launch a major marketing effort with a new ad campaign and an online sales site.
Israel is the 50th country in which Carrefour operates — hence the launch with 50 new branches. Ultimately, the company plans to open between 80 to 100 branches around Israel by the end of this year.
