No expected
acceleration (yet)
According
to the database of LSA Expert, there were 54 new drives in May in France. That
is 14 less than in April, when 68 new ones were opened. This continues the
trend of the past months for the fifth time, because in March 78 drives opened
up, in February 87 and in January 97.
This
slowing down comes as no real surprise: France has more than enough drives with
the current 2,482. Some big players, as Cora, Hyper U and Géant Casino, have
already equipped 80 to 95% of their locations with one.
It is still
remarkable though, because analysts had expected supermarkets to speed up the
process, since French minister of Trade Sylvia Pinel had announced she was
working on a plan to stop the growth of drives, by instating a permit for
opening one. The minister has confirmed she is working towards a vote in
parliament by the end of 2013, so the new legislation can come into effect in
2014.
