Geant casino online shopping

French retail company

Casino Group or Casino Guichard-Perrachon is a French mass-market retail group. It was founded on 2 August by Geoffroy Guichard under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co.^[2]

Casino Group is the source of many innovations, such as the first distributor's brand in ,^[3] the first self-service store in ,^[4] or even the display of a sell-by date on consumer products in

As a historical player in mass-market retail in France, the group also started to grow internationally at the end of the 90s. It acquired GPA and Grupo Éxito in , major companies in mass-market retail in Brazil and in Colombia.^[5][6]

Casino Group operates across all food and non-food formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, discount stores, and wholesale stores. Other than the eponymous "Géant Casino" and "Casino Supermarchés", Casino Group owns other brands such as Monoprix, Franprix, Leader Price, Cdiscount, Vival, Spar, Sherpa, and Le Petit Casino.

As of Casino Group, managed by Jean-Charles Naouri, was quoted on the Paris Stock Exchange and had total revenue of €&#;billion.^[7] As of November , the group has a market capitalization of approximately €&#;billion.^[8]

From a consortium lead by Daniel Kretinsky will own and control % of Casino's share capital.^[9]

History[edit]

Casino's genesis (–)[edit]

Geoffroy Guichard was born on 27 July in Feurs, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. His parents were the owners of a retail grocery business in Saint-Étienne. In , he married Antonia Perrachon and became a partner with Paul Perrachon, his cousin-in-law, who had been the owner of a shop in the region for around ten years. Geoffroy Guichard became the sole business owner in ^[10] The store, located rue des Jardins, was originally the Lyrical Casino of Saint-Étienne. Closed in the s,^[11] the Lyrical Casino was transformed into a retail grocery store in the s. Geoffroy Guichard grew the grocery store to turn it into a general food store, based on the Felix Potin model. In April , due to the success of the concept, Geoffroy Guichard opened the first branch in Veauche, in Loire.^[12]

The beginnings of Casino (–)[edit]

On 2 August , Geoffroy Guichard founded with his father-in-law «&#;la Société des Magasins du Casino&#;» and «&#;Établissements économiques d’alimentation under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co. In total, 77 people subscribed to the capital of the new company. The Guichard spouses owned 35% of the company's capital (limited by shares). As from , warehouses and factories were built in Saint-Étienne. Damaged by a fire in , they were rebuilt reaching a total surface of 16 m². In the factories, Casino baked bread, produced oil and chocolate, roasted coffee, distilled and produced homemade liquors. An important wine business was also developed. Nearly 40 branches were opened in In September , the th branch was opened in Lamastre in Ardèche and in July , the 21st concession.^[13]

The development of social action (–)[edit]

In the first quarter of the 20th century, the company developed a social action plan dedicated to its employees, with, in , the launch of an insurance fund, the creation of a health service in , benefits for large families and a birth premium in or even child benefits and profit sharing for all employees as from ^[14] In , Casino created the Sports branch Casino employees’ Social Club, a sports organization in accordance with its sports corporatism policy.^[15] The Social club opened its football section in July alongside other disciplines such as athletics or basketball. More commonly referred to as AS Casino, the Social club became "l’Association Sportive Stéphanoise" in then "l’Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne" in In , in celebration of its 25th anniversary, Casino put in place a pension fund which ensured the security of employees leaving the company. The Casino share was quoted on the Stock Exchange as from

Industrial development after WWI (–)[edit]

As from , Casino continued to grow by creating factories and warehouses. In , the company counted nearly branches and over outlets. At that time, Casino was present across 28 districts. In , Geoffroy Guichard became administrator of «&#;L’Épargne de Toulouse&#;», which had similar operations to Casino's with around branches located in the South-West of France. Geoffroy Guichard took permanent control of the company in ^[16] Geoffroy Guichard announced the transfer of the company to his children during the general meeting of October At that time, Casino counted around employees. After the death of Geoffroy Guichard in May , Mario Guichard became President of the executive board. He was surrounded by his brothers Jean, Georges, Paul et Pierre Guichard, and his brother-in-law François Kemlin.

In June , François Kemlin created a network of clandestine activities. It benefited from important material resources made available by the company. These actions ranged from making packages/parcels and sending letters to creating files to enable the escape of War prisoners.^[17] Bombings during the War damaged many factories, warehouses and offices. Some even had to close down.

The Great innovations (–)[edit]

In , Pierre Guichard took a trip to North America to observe growing trends. He discovered the self-service store concept. A year later, Casino opened its first self-service store in Saint-Étienne.^[18] Over a period of 10 years, branches adopted this new sales principle. In , one of the first cooling systems was put in place in distribution.^[19] There again, it was a type of innovation observed in the US. Gradually, warehouses were equipped with cooling chambers and refrigerated coolers. In , Casino was the first distributor to display a sell-by date on its products.^[20] This was made compulsory in December with the use-by date. Already in , the Group had put in place "calendar displays" on product packaging, as a quality guarantee.

The development of new formats (–)[edit]

In , Casino opened its first supermarket in Nice, under the brand Nica. The store, which was totally self-service, offered both food and non-food products. The first supermarket with the Casino name opened in May in Grenoble.^[19] A few months later, four new stores opened in Nice, Saint-Étienne, Firminy and Lyon. The first two Paris supermarkets opened in in Saint-Denis and Bagneux.^[21] In March , the first Géant Casino hypermarket opened its doors in Marseille.^[21] It was then the biggest store in France with a surface of m². The shopping mall was made of 41 independent businesses and a Casino cafeteria. The SOMABRI company (SOciété des Magasins de BRIcolage/the company of DIY stores) was created in to enable Casino Group to be present on the DIY market. It opened its first two stores in in Toulouse Fenouillet and in Clermont le Brézet. Casino transferred its majority ownership to Castorama in October ^[22]&#;&#; .^[23]

The Internationalization of Casino Group (–)[edit]

In , the internationalization of Casino Group started in the United States with the creation of Casino USA to operate French cafeterias in the USA. Restaurants were opened in Phoenix, Arizona, then in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Westwood Village, Costa Mesa, and Seattle in California. Many convenience businesses also opened their doors under the name Le Petit Casino. The Group took over the chain Thriftymart Inc stores which then became Smart & Final Iris.^[24] Back then, the company owned around 90 retail outlets, all self-service, and implanted mainly in California. The internationalization of Casino Group then accelerated until the end of the s with its development across South America. In March , Casino Group signed a partnership agreement with Dairy Farm International, one of the biggest groups of supermarkets in Asia.^[25] A joint company was then created for the development of hypermarkets in the Asian South-East and particularly in Taïwan where a first hypermarket opened in In , Casino Group bought into the capital of Distribution Groups GPA and Grupo Éxito in Brazil and in Colombia.^[26][27]

The Merger between Casino Group and Rallye Group (–)[edit]

In April , Casino Group purchased the Company Cedis of Besançon, which helped the Group develop in the East of France.^[28] In April , Casino took over the Compagnie Française d’Afrique Occidentale, La Ruche Méridionale d’Agen and SODIM and strengthened its implantation in the South of France.^[29] In October , Casino Group, then managed by Antoine Guichard (grandson of Geoffroy Guichard), merged with the Rallye Group owned by Jean-Charles Naouri.^[30] Rallye brought Casino all of its distribution and catering activities. The Group was then present all over the French territory. At the end of this operation, Rallye owned 29% of the total capital of Casino Group. Antoine Guichard, the last family manager of Casino Group, did not want to give up the presidency of the company. The Rallye company was founded in by Jean Cam.^[31] Threatened by serious cash flow problems, it was bought back in by Jean-Charles Naouri and his investment company, Euris.^[32]

Growth in France: affiliates and partnerships (–)[edit]

To increase its presence in France, Casino Group continued its wave of acquisitions by signing many agreements with national distributors. Corse Distribution Group became affiliated with Casino in Many hypermarkets and supermarkets then became Casino stores. Between and , Casino took majority ownership in the different companies of Corse Distribution, enabling the development of many new franchise names. In December , Casino Group and Monoprix, branch of Galeries Lafayette, signed a partnership agreement for purchasing and logistics. Less than a year later, Casino supported Monoprix financially in the total acquisition of Prisunic's capital and became therefore, shareholder at % of the capital of this new Group.^[33] In September , Casino Group took majority ownership in the Franprix and Leader Price brands and their network of stores.^[34]

Major changes in Casino Group's shareholding (–)[edit]

In , after many months of stock-market battle, Jean-Charles Naouri, the Guichard family and employees of the Group rejected a hostiletender offer made by the Promodès distributor. Following a counter-bid, Jean-Charles Naouri became the majority shareholder of Casino Group in ^[35]

Acceleration of the investment strategy (–)[edit]

Under the aegis of Jean-Charles Naouri, Casino Group developed its assets in France and internationally. In March , Casino Group signed an affiliate agreement with the Uruguayan Brand Disco for the construction of a Géant Casino in Montevideo. The store opened its doors in ^[36] In February , Casino Group took over the Argentine Group Libertad operating 7 hypermarkets across the country.^[37] Libertad was then the third company of hypermarkets in Argentine. In , Casino subscribed to the capital of leading distribution companies in their respective countries, GPA in Brazil and Grupo Éxito in Colombia.^[26] After having strengthened its position in , Casino Group became in July the sole controlling shareholder of GPA, no 1 in distribution and no 2 in e-business in Brazil. In , Casino Group acquired Monoprix (50% of it), Franprix, Leader Price and Cdiscount. Activities grew again with the creation of Banque Casino in as well as property management company Mercialys, managing all the shopping malls owned by Casino. These assets represented shopping malls on hypermarket and supermarket sites, as well as the premises of cafeterias owned by the Group.^[38]

In , Jean-Charles Naouri was appointed CEO of Casino Group. Casino inaugurated its new Head Office in Saint-Étienne, its historical stronghold, in In the same year, the Group created GreenYellow, its energy-specialised branch.^[39] Its first photovoltaic plant was connected to the electric network in In that year, Casino Group continued its growth in Asia by acquiring Thai participations in the Carrefour Group with its Big C branch. In , the Charle brothers sold their shares in the Cdiscount capital. Casino then held % of shares.^[40] In the same year, Casino Group and La Poste signed a partnership agreement. With a length of 5 years, it aimed at creating convenience food businesses in available premises, next to Post offices, in villages of under 12, inhabitants.^[41] In July , the Group acquired 50% of shares held by Galeries Lafayette Group in Monoprix.^[42] Jean-Charles Naouri was named CEO by the Board of Directors of the Brand. The Group purchased the majority of Le Mutant stores and renamed them "Leader Price".^[43] In parallel, the Group reduced its shares in Mercialys, by around %. On 8 October , the Group and Intermarché announced an agreement as regards purchases for big brand products in France. This agreement meant that the 2 Groups were purchasing leaders in France with a market share of %.^[44]

Activity refocusing (since )[edit]

In February , the Group announced the sale of 59% of its shares in its Big C Thai activities for &#;billion Euros. In April, the company announced the sale of Big C Vietnam to Central Group for 1 Billion dollars.^[45] In December , Casino Group signed an agreement with Ocado to develop a technological platform with an automated warehouse in France.^[46] Announced a business partnership aiming at selling Monoprix food products to Amazon Prime Now customers.^{[citation needed]}

On 23 May , Casino's parent company Rallye S.A., declared bankruptcy protection in an effort to maintain its high debt costs. Casino later announced that same day that they are not involved in the bankruptcy and it will not affect its operations and employees.^[47]

In , Casino announced that they have completed a deal to avoid bankruptcy. This restructuring procedure would allow for the company to cut high debt and improve recent losses to other rival supermarket corporations.^[48] In , Casino USA filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy.^[49]

Activities of the Group[edit]

Unlike its main French competitors, Casino Group made the bet of developing a multi-brand strategy in the s under the management of Jean-Charles Naouri. Therefore, aside from its eponymous brands Casino Supermarkets and Géant Casino, the Group developed Monoprix, Franprix or even Leader Price in France,^[50] but also Pao de Açúcar^[51] and Extra in Brazil or even Exito and Carulla in Colombia.^[52][53]

In France[edit]

Firstly, Casino oriented its multi-format and multi-brand structure towards the development of convenience and discount stores. The model developed by Casino is founded on the network of brands with differentiated and complementary positioning. In Metropolitan France, the Group operates the brands Géant Casino (hypermarkets), Casino Supermarkets, Monoprix, Franprix, Leader Price, Spar, Vival, Le Petit Casino, Casino Restauration. In Réunion Island, the brands are mainly Score and Jumbo Score.

Internationally[edit]

The Group directs its development towards countries with a strong growth and profitability potential, where its branches have strong local roots. South America has therefore become its priority area for development.^[54]

The Group is leader on the market in Latin America,^[55] and more particularly in Brazil^[56] and in Colombia.^[57][58]

E-business[edit]

Casino Group concentrates its e-business activity within the company Cnova, created in June ^[59]

Cdiscount, branch of Casino Group, became over a few years a major e-business actor over the Internet in France.^[60]

In November , Casino Group acquired a 34% stake in Cnova for €10&#;million.^[61] Stakes in the company increased to % following the deal.

Real estate[edit]

The real estate activity of Casino Group is driven in France by l’Immobilière Casino (which owns the walls of its stores) and its old brand Mercialys.^[62]

[edit]

Casino Group created a Company Foundation which supports childhood development by fighting against the cultural exclusion of the under-privileged. The Casino Corporate Foundation contributes to their education by funding theatre projects.^[63]

Founded in , the Casino Foundation complements the other foundations of Casino Group present in France and in Latin America: the Exito Foundation in Colombia created in , mainly engaged against child malnutrition,^[64] the GPA Institute which fosters youth education and their professional insertion^[65] and the Monoprix Foundation which fights against isolation in cities.^[65][66][67]

Casino and the world of sport[edit]

Casino and sport association[edit]

Casino Group is the origin of the AS Saint-Étienne football Club, which was created in The Sports Social Club of Saint-Étienne was born more precisely as a sports section of the «Employees' Social Club of the Casino store company,» the organization created in by Casino to support its sports corporatism policy. The Social Club logically takes on board the green color of the grocery chain.^[68][69]

A few months after the creation of the French Football Association-Federation (FFAF), the Social Club, more commonly named «&#;AS Casino&#;» (ASC), opened its football section in , as well as other disciplines such as athletics and basketball. On 29 March , under the initiative of Albert Jacquet, general secretary of the company, AS Casino became «&#;the Social Sports Club&#;» to respect the rules adopted by the Federation prohibiting the use of brands in the names of clubs, as well as keeping the initials. The club was then reserved for Casino employees, and the training center was located on the «&#;Pont de l'âne&#;» field, the property of the Group.

Seven years later, under the initiative of Pierre Guichard, son of Geoffroy Guichard who had become president of the club after MM. Godot and Jean Moulin, the Social Sports Club merged with the University Forez Stadium within the «&#;Stéphanoise Sports Association&#;» (SSA), which kept of course the green colour of the ASC.^[70]

In , the French Federation voted for the adoption of professionalism in France. It became necessary for the SSA, whose managers were ambitious, to have its own stadium. The founder of Casino Group purchased a large field and gave it to the club. A membership offered to «&#;friends&#;» of the club helped gather the necessary funds to build the first facilities, later named Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.^[71]

Cyclism[edit]

In , Casino Group became the main sponsor of the Chazal cycling team (currently AG2R Citroën Team). The team, therefore, took the name «&#;Petit Casino – C'est votre équipe&#;».^[72] In the following year, Casino increased its funding and AG2R Provident Insurance became the second sponsor. The team doubled its budget, which went to 25 million Francs, and took the name "Casino-AG2R Prévoyance" from to

Casino's commitment finished at the end of the season. Over 3 years, the team also won 3 stages of the Tour de France, one stage of the Tour of Spain, 3 major classics and many national championships.^[73] It counted athletes such as Alexandre Vinokourov, Benoît Salmon or even Jaan Kirsipuu. The Casino Green is the traditional colour of Casino Group. It was the colour of the blinds in the former lyrical Casino, which was situated rue des Jardins in Saint-Etienne.

Shareholding[edit]

Jean-Charles Naouri was the majority shareholder of Casino Group since via his Rallye SA company.^[74]

From a consortium lead by Daniel Kretinsky will own and control % of Casino's share capital.^[9]

Brands[edit]

France

Groupe Casino's brands a range of retail formats:

• Casino Supermarchés, a supermarket chain
• Monoprix, a city-centre variety chain selling food, personal and beauty care products, household products and apparel
• Franprix, a city convenience store chain
• Superettes:
  • Petit Casino
  • Casino Shop
  • Casino Shopping
  • SPAR
  • Vival
• Hypermarkets
  • Hyper Casino: Small hypermarkets chain.
  • Géant Casino: Hypermarket chain. Brand created in , it is doomed to disappear in favour of Casino Supermarchés and Casino #hyperFrais.^[75]
  • Casino #hyperFrais: Brand created in to replace Géant Casino.^[76][77]
• Online stores
• Property management

In the world

Financial highlights[edit]

Net business volume includes all revenue from consolidated companies, associates and franchisees, on a % basis.

Share information[edit]

ISIN: FR

• Par value: € per share
• Majority shareholders at end (voting rights): Free float: %; Groupe Rallye %; employees %.

Controversies[edit]

Kepler Cheuvreux[edit]

In August , following anonymous threats and intimidations in Germany, the analyststock, responsible for monitoring food retail trade from Kepler Cheuvreux, was forced to stop following Casino group and the German distribution brand Metro. The analyst had advised Kepler Cheuvreux's client investors to "hold" Metro's stock and to "reduce" their positions on Casino. Both groups have the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky as a minority shareholder. He, along with the Casino group, condemned the threats addressed to the analyst. Neither Kepler Cheuvreux nor the analyst have commented on this matter. An investigation is currently underway by the German police, while the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) has declared to "regret" this situation. The financial watchdog also indicated having informed the public prosecutor.^[78]

Duty of Vigilance Law[edit]

In March , eleven NGOs filed a lawsuit against the Casino group in French courts^[79] due to its sales in South America of products based on beef, allegedly from farms linked to illegal deforestation in the Amazon.^[80][81] The NGOs claim to base their case on the duty of vigilance law.^{[82][83][84][85][86]}

See also[edit]

References[edit]