Auchan

Auchan Shop in Poland.

Auchan is a distribution and finance group whose first warehouse was opened in Roubaix (France) in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez in a 600 m² abandoned factory in the Hauts Champs neighborhood ("Hauts Campos"), which phonetically sounds the same as "Auchan" in French. Today, Auchan is one of the main distribution groups in the world. It is present in 12 countries.

Auchan has 478 hypermarkets, 735 supermarkets, 2027 convenience stores worldwide, and also 123 hypermarkets in France.

Auchan is present in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, China and Taiwan, Senegal.

The company operated between 1997 and 2007 in Argentina, with first-generation stores and first-line services, but after not being able to recover, despite attempts, the money lost after the Argentine recession, it ended up selling its Argentine subsidiary to the American group rival Wal-Mart.

In recent years, it sold its investments in the United States and Mexico to local operators, where it operated between 1996 and 2003 with several hypermarkets in the Valley of Mexico and Puebla. Auchan sold all its stores to its partner Controladora Comercial Mexicana, which was later acquired by Soriana. Currently, it is still possible to tell which stores were Auchan due to their peculiar style, such as the inclined electric ramps that connected to the covered parking lot.

Mulliez Group

The diversification of the business line led the main shareholders of Auchan (Mulliez group) to create new companies, also within the distribution sector but specialized in certain product lines. These companies operate completely independently but their operating schemes are very similar to Auchan. Today more than 15 companies are part of the Mulliez group. Among these companies are:

• Jardiland, chain specialized in Gardening, Pets and Home Decoration.
• Decathlon, chain specializing in sports material.
• Boulanger, chain specialized in electronics and consumer computing. In 2009 the shops belonging to Boulanger Spain were acquired by the Portuguese company Worten.
• Flunch, (cafeterias).
• My Alcampo, supermarkets.
• Alcampo, Hipermercados in Spain.
• Kiabi, chain of clothes at low prices.
• Leroy Merlin, Weldom or Bricocenter according to the country, Adeo group chain specializing in DIY, gardening and home decoration.
• Bricomart, company of the Adeo group of distribution specialized in the DIY sector and construction materials.
• Midas (from the Mobivia group), network of fast car repair workshops without previous appointment.
• Norauto (from the Mobivia group), products shops for the car and quick workshops.
• Phildar, French fashion brand Prêt-à-porter and point.
• Pimkie, French fashion brand with presence in 26 countries.

Auchan in the world

The strings in the group are:

• In France: Auchan, Atac, Simply Market, Auchan Direct, Voyages Auchan, Banque Accord, Immochan.
• In China: Auchan, Accord Consulting.
• In Spain: Alcampo, Supermarkets Sabco (Simply City, Simply Market, HiperSimply, Simply Store, Red ring), Immochan España, Oney E.F.C..
• In Hungary: Auchan, Accord Magyarország, Immochan.
• In Italy: Cityper, Gallerie Auchan, Iovorrei, Cartaccord.
• In Luxembourg: Auchan.
• In Poland: Auchan, Elea, A-Tak, Accord Finance, Immochan.
• In Portugal: Jumbo, Pão de Açúcar, Auchan.
• In Russia: Ашан, Atak Supermarkets, BA Finans.
• In Romania: Auchan.
• In Taiwan: RT Mart, Apic, Save and Safe.
• In Ukraine: Ашан Гіпермаркет.
• On the Internet: Auchandirect (AlcampoDirect in Spain).