Carrefour to close both outlets by end of the month

Both branches of French hypermarket Carrefour in Singapore are set to close by the end of the month in order to restore the premises to its original state.

Leases for the outlets at Suntec City and Plaza Singapura are scheduled to expire in December and November respectively.

Three weeks ago, Carrefour Singapore announced that it was pulling out of the local market before the end of the outlets' lease.

In its statement, Carrefour had said: "Carrefour Singapore announces the decision to close its Suntec and Plaza Singapura stores before end of 2012, since expansion and growth perspectives do not allow reaching a leadership position in the medium and long term."

It had opened its first store in Singapore in 1997.

According to a Straits Times report, the non-food level of both outlets are already closed. Most of the food shelves have also been cleared out, following a sale last weekend.

Plastic sheets were seen covering the empty shelves, and suppliers of fresh meat and produce have stopped delivery, said the English daily.

The remaining dried goods were packed and moved closer to the cashiers to allow the premises to be cordoned off in stages.

In an earlier interview with AFP when the pullout was announced, a senior executive with an Asian electronics company that supplies appliances to Carrefour, who declined to be named, said: "There was a lot of talk (of closing) from the internal staff and they have been clearing stock for the last two months."

Carrefour to close Singapore outlets by year-end

SINGAPORE: Hypermarket chain Carrefour has announced that it plans to close both its local outlets -- at Suntec City Mall and Plaza Singapura -- by the end of this year.

In a press release dated Tuesday morning, the company said: "Carrefour Singapore announces the decision to close its Suntec and Plaza Singapura stores before end of 2012, since expansion and growth perspectives do not allow reaching a leadership position in the medium and long term."

The French company, which opened its first store in Singapore in 1997, had previously said in 2010 that it would leave Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai markets.

In November 2010, it sold its operations in Thailand -- where it had 42 stores including 34 hypermarkets -- to Thai chain Big C, for an enterprise value of 868 million euros (S$1.36 billion).

But in the same month, it put off plans of selling its stores in Singapore and Malaysia, saying it was confident of creating more value single-handedly in Malaysia and Singapore in the medium and long term, rather than by disposing of those properties.

Then-chief executive of the Carrefour group, Lars Olofsson, said at that point that the two countries would become more significant contributors to the company's overall business.

However, other reports claimed that Carrefour had cancelled plans to sell its Malaysian and Singaporean assets after the designed sale did not attract expected bids.

In 2009, Asia accounted for 7.9 per cent of Carrefour's sales of 85.9 billion euros. Carrefour's two outlets in Singapore contributed 85 million euros in revenue that year, according to its annual report.

Separately, Dairy Farm Singapore says it has signed a lease to open a new Giant hypermarket chain at Suntec City. It is also exploring the possibility of taking over the space at Plaza Singapura after Carrefour ends its lease.