French retailer Carrefour has opened its largest store in Asia in Beijing, China, in a move to capitalize on the growing interest for imported goods among Chinese customers.
The two-storey hypermarket, which is located at North Fourth Ring Road, features more than 80 stores of several brands such as Uniqlo, Decathlon, in addition to the first Baidu Concept Store.
Spanning over 71,380m2, the Beijing store provides more than 40,000 offerings, of which 15% are imported items, reports International Supermarket News.
The hypermarket, which is the retailer's 20th store in Beijing, features 800 free parking slots, 15 electric charging stations for shuttle buses, and five underground charging stations for electric autos, and hence is being branded as Carrefour's first green flagship store in China.
Carrefour North-West China region regional manager Laurent Olszewski was quoted by International Supermarket News as saying: "We are concentrating on imported nourishment items as there has been an ocean change in the sustenance inclinations of Chinese purchaser. "It is very unique in relation to what I saw when I first came to China in 1995."
Olszewski also added that the company plans to expand its online business in 2016 and will concentrate on its web-based applications from January next year, reported the publication.
With this move, Carrefour is seeking to attract customers from the high income consumer group.
