Lars Olofsson, CEO of Carrefour, has said he does not expect any major improvement in the world economy in the near future. Talking to the Wall Street Journal, Olofsson noted, “I don't see any significant signs of an immediate change. The only part of the world where they are still dancing the samba is Latin America”.
He also stressed that price remained the key focus for consumers, noting that promotions were seeing strong pick-up from shoppers, who were also buying more Carrefour-branded goods. Olofsson also defended the hypermarket model, despite the growing popularity of speciality stores, noting that "in France we have about one million people per day flowing through our hypermarkets. People still have an interest in them”.
The comments are likely to be a dampener on recent hopes across the industry that conditions are gradually improving, with retail sales expected to pick up in the last quarter of the year.
Namnews - Monday 12th October 2009
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