Hypermarket expansion almost frozen

Hypermarket expansion has almost frozen this autumn: Carrefour, Real, and Auchan - the retailers that had seen the biggest expansion on the segment until 2009 - are not inaugurating any store in the fourth quarter of the year, making 2010 the year with the lowest number of hypermarket openings.

Autumn used to be the season for hypermarket openings, because up until now retailers were keen to catch the holiday peak sales with as many stores open as possible.

Amid a lack of funding for new shopping centres and dwindling consumption, 2010 is the first year where all three hypermarket operators that pursued expansion during the boom years of consumption have slowed down "territorial expansion" abruptly.

The opposite is true for competitors who relied on a smaller hypermarket format: Kaufland and Cora.

Discount chain Kaufland has so far opened 9 stores this year, but company representatives declined to provide information on the company's future expansion projects.

In turn, Cora can be considered the surprise of this year's hypermarket segment, with the chain to double the number of stores in a year with declines across the entire sector.