Quick Take — Carrefour shuts down at night in Turin: Mastrolia cuts back on 24-hour opening hours

Supermarkets open even at night? Carrefour h24 further reduces its opening hours in Turin. NewPrinces chairman Angelo Mastrolia explains the decision by citing three factors: staff safety, operating costs and low footfall during the night…

The review of opening hours also responds to a long-standing request from workers’ representatives. Luca Sanna, deputy general secretary of UilTucs Piemonte, tells *La Repubblica* that the new owners recently informed the trade unions of their decision to further reconsider the 24-hour opening model. According to the UilTucs Piemonte representative, “the perception is that operating costs exceed takings”, taking into account expenditure on staff, heating, electricity and security…

King Kullen: why the first US supermarket was at the forefront of global distribution

Italian, French and British retailers have drawn inspiration and lessons from their American counterparts. And the chain that opened its first supermarket 96 years ago is still family-owned: in June, King Kullen appointed its first female president, Tracey Cullen, the founder’s great-granddaughter

Quick Take — Carrefour revamps its own-brand range

Carrefour is building on the initiative launched with Act For Food in 2017 by offering the option to include three logos or pictograms on each pack, with an explanation on the back. The three are chosen from around fifty options covering promises regarding ingredients (no additives, no colourings, no MSG…), production conditions (no synthetic herbicides, no GMOs, access to pasture, etc.), packaging (e.g. recyclability), nutritional profile (fat and salt content, etc.) or environmental factors.

This latest addition to ‘Act For Food’ aims to highlight how Carrefour’s own-brand products differ from other private labels.

Below, on the right, is the Italian translation of Olivier Dauvers’ post, which broke the news I have summarised here.

N.B.: the Carrefour pictogram remains rather unclear.

Quick Take — Grand Frais reaches 350 shops and consolidates its leadership in the specialist fresh food sector

…With 350 outlets, Grand Frais maintains a clear lead over other French retailers specialising in fresh produce. In second place is Mangeons Frais, a brand belonging to the Blachère group, with 156 shops – less than half the size of Grand Frais’s network. Next comes Fresh, a brand belonging to the Prosol group dedicated to fresh produce, which has 77 outlets across France.

This gap in numbers highlights the dominant position Grand Frais has established in a segment that continues to attract consumers seeking product ranges focused on fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products and speciality foods…

Below: one of Grand Frais’s rivals – Carrefour’s Match supermarkets, with a photo by Olivier Dauvers showing the fruit and vegetable and meat departments.

Quick Take — In Milan, an entire neighbourhood has been left without a supermarket: to do the shopping, you have to walk a kilometre

The closure of the only supermarket in the Sant’Ambrogio I neighbourhood, in Barona, leaves thousands of residents without a local shop. It is the elderly and families who are suffering the most, whilst the local council searches for a new operator…

The Sigma supermarket is located – or rather, was located – within the municipal covered market on Via San Paolino, alongside a chemist’s, a laundrette, a hairdresser’s and a café. This closure further depopulates an already struggling neighbourhood and makes life particularly difficult for the elderly and mothers with young children, who, even on sweltering days, have to travel long distances for their daily shopping. The nearest supermarket is now almost a kilometre away. For many elderly people, going shopping has become a real challenge…

We had already addressed this issue in this article: In Italy, small towns are being depopulated, including their shops: will Amazon Now provide the service in the future?: it seems this is not just an issue for villages but also for cities, such as Milan, where large-scale retail – with or without e-commerce – should play not only a commercial but also a social role…

Read also: In recent weeks, Carrefour Spain has launched a mobile supermarket to combat the decline of local shops

Written on 15 July, updated on 22 July 2026