E.Leclerc (informally simply Leclerc, French pronunciation: [ləklɛʁ]) is a French retailers' cooperative and hypermarket chain, headquartered in Ivry-sur-Seine.[2] E.Leclerc was established on 1 January 1948 by Édouard Leclerc in Brittany.[3][4] E.Leclerc currently has more than 720 locations in France and 85 stores outside of the country, as of 2019.[3] The chain enables semi-independent stores to operate under the Leclerc brand.

E.Leclerc
Company typePrivate, cooperative
IndustryRetail
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)
FounderÉdouard Leclerc
Headquarters,
France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michel Édouard Leclerc (President)
ProductsHypermarket, supermarket, supercenter, superstore, discount store
RevenueIncreaseUS$ 56.87 billion (2019)[1]
Number of employees
133,000 (2019)
Websitee.leclerc
Recently built E.Leclerc in Avermes, France

Own brand ranges come under the Marque Repère and Eco+ banners, as well as a MVNO called Réglo Mobile which uses the mobile network of SFR. Some larger hypermarkets have a separate entertainment/multimedia section, under the name of Espace Culturel. E.Leclerc operates numerous stores and services around France, some near and in cities and towns while most of them are located just outside or in the hypermarkets and shopping centres.

History

edit

In 1949, Édouard Leclerc opened his first store, in Landerneau, in Brittany,[5] on the same model as the self-service grocery store invented by Félix Potin in 1844.[6] Subsequently, in the 1950s, a new brand called E.Leclerc clothing opens its doors and the sixtieth E.Leclerc center also opens its doors in Issy-les-Moulineaux by Jean-Pierre Le Roch. In 1962, the E.Leclerc Centers Purchasing Group (GALEC) was created.[7] In 1964, the Landerneau store expanded, becoming the first E.Leclerc hypermarket. From 1969, 75 centers withdrew to form the future Intermarché.[8][9] Over the years, several spaces were founded such as Le Manège à Bijoux in 1986, E.Leclerc Voyages in 1987, L'auto E.Leclerc in 1988 and the Parapharmacy E.Leclerc in 1988 after the end of the pharmacists' monopoly on sales. parapharmacy products. In 1973, Édouard Leclerc invented the concept of wine fairs, which he launched in his supermarkets.[10]

In 1991, E.Leclerc launched a first-price range and created the Tisaia brand, the first E.Leclerc clothing brand. In 1992, he opened his first store in Pamplona in Spain and began to expand in Europe. The first E.Leclerc Cultural Center opened its doors in 1994. Leclerc opened its first store in Warsaw, Poland. E.Leclerc stopped distributing disposable plastic bags in 1996. The Repère brand was launched for the first time in 1997 by the brand. The following year, opening of the first E.Leclerc perfumery "One hour for oneself". During 1998, E.Leclerc and the Système U group joined forces and created a common purchasing center called "Lucie". The agreement would last only three years. Only the fuel purchase activity survived and the entity was renamed "Synergie" without publicity.[11]

Organisation

edit

The E.Leclerc cooperative is composed of several regional central buying services that operate the group's stores in their respective areas. There are currently nineteen central buying services in activity. (The geographic zoning is not strictly defined, therefore two E.Leclerc-branded stores in the same region may be operated by different central buying services)

Name Headquarters Area of service
Scacentre   Yzeure, Allier Auvergne, Cher, Saône-et-Loire
Scanormande   Lisieux, Calvados Normandy, French West Indies, Réunion
Scachap   Ruffec, Charente Poitou-Charentes, Limousin
Scarmor   Landerneau, Finistère Western Brittany (Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère, Morbihan)
Socamil   Castelnaudary, Aude Occitania, Cantal, Andorra
Scaso   Cestas, Gironde Corrèze, Dordogne, Gironde
Socara   Villette-d'Anthon, Isère Rhône-Alpes, Slovenia
Scalandes   Mont-de-Marsan, Landes Gers, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Spain and Portugal (fresh produce only)
Scaouest   Saint-Étienne-de-Montluc, Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Vendée, Eastern Brittany (Ille-et-Vilaine, Morbihan)
Scapest   Saint-Martin-sur-le-Pré, Marne Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine, Picardy, Seine-et-Marne, Yonne, Luxembourg
Scapartois   Tilloy-lès-Mofflaines, Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Seine-Maritime
Scapalsace   Colmar, Haut-Rhin Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté, Côte-d'Or
Socamaine   Champagné, Sarthe Mayenne, Sarthe, Orne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Loiret
Scadif   Réau, Seine-et-Marne Southern Île-de-France
Lecasud   Le Luc, Var Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Scapnor   Bruyères-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise Northern Île-de-France
Scaber   Coslada Spain
Cooplecnorte   Oliveira do Bairro Portugal
Scawar   Warsaw Poland

Leclerc stores

edit
 
E.Leclerc store in Katowice, Poland

As of 2024, there are 726 E.Leclerc stores in France, along with 690 DRIVE stores. There are 112 stores outside of France.[12] The first store outside of France was opened in Pamplona, Spain in 1992.

 
Recently opened E.Leclerc convenience store in Gasperich, Luxembourg

In 2023, E.Leclerc expanded into Luxembourg by acquiring the local branch of the Louis Delhaize Group, which operated 2 Cora hypermarkets and 25 Match and Smatch supermarkets. Stores started to operate under the E.Leclerc brand in the spring of 2024; this was the retailer's first international expansion in 13 years.

List of E.Leclerc stores by country
Country Stores First store opened
  France 726 1949
  Poland 43 1995[13]
  Luxembourg 27 2024
  Portugal 21 1995[14]
  Spain 18 1992[15]
  Slovenia 2 2000
  Andorra 1 2011

Until 2014, supermarket chain Conad also operated 30 stores in Italy under the E.Leclerc brand.[16]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Top 50 Global Retailers 2020". nrf.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Conditions Générales d'Utilisation." E.Leclerc. Retrieved on 1 May 2011. "26, quai Marcel Boyer 94 200 Ivry-sur-Seine"
  3. ^ a b "Leclerc supermarket founder dies at 85". The Local. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  4. ^ "Édouard Leclerc est décédé". Le Figaro. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  5. ^ vidéo: L'Ouest en mémoire (Ina) - L'aventure d'Edouard Leclerc 1959, reportage réalisé à Landerneau en 1959.
  6. ^ Gérard Cliquet (2007). Recherches sur la distribution moderne. L'univers du livre. p. 6. ISBN 9789973786890..
  7. ^ "- E. Leclerc Histoire et Archives". www.histoireetarchives.leclerc. Retrieved 2021-05-09..
  8. ^ Conso, L. S. A. (15 September 2019). "15 septembre 1969: ce jour qui lança le Groupement des Mousquetaires". lsa-conso.fr (in French). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  9. ^ Conso, L. S. A. (24 October 2013). "55 ans du supermarché: Les dates clés". lsa-conso.fr (in French). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  10. ^ « Les foires aux vins ont anobli notre profession », challenges.fr, 16 septembre 2014.
  11. ^ Frédéric Carluer-Lossouarn, Lucie aurait 10 ans : retour sur un fiasco, Linéaires, No. 239, septembre 2008, p. 33.
  12. ^ Conso, L. S. A. (11 February 2020). "Beau bilan 2019 pour E.Leclerc avec des hypers en pleine forme".
  13. ^ l'étranger, Français à (2020-02-27). "E. Leclerc, pionnier en Pologne". Journal des Français à l’étranger (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  14. ^ conso, L. S. A. (1997-03-27). "Leclerc s'ancre sur le marché portugais" (in French). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ conso, L. S. A. (2012-11-15). "International : Leclerc montre ses muscles en Espagne" (in French). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. ^ conso, L. S. A. (2014-09-26). "Leclerc et Conad divorcent en Italie" (in French). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
edit