TRADE. The Cora hypermarket, already renamed, will officially become a Carrefour store on Friday October 25. An upheaval for many Bragards attached to their brand. The operation has no impact in terms of human resources. Better, “we are recruiting”, announces management.
Intermarket for some. Leclerc for the others. Lidl, Aldi and Leader Price also have their loyal followers attached to their brand. In Saint-Dizier, Cora is – was – an institution, as you can hear on the shelves of the Bettancourt-la-Ferrée hypermarket. Between two aisles, in the parking lot and in comments on social networks, it is often the same refrain: “It will always be Cora”; “I love my Cora, I don’t want that to change”…
“A historic moment”
Because since last summer, the Carrefour group has bought all of the Coras in France. Including the only one in Haute-Marne. The hyper is part of the first wave of stores to be transformed. During the night of Monday October 14 to Tuesday October 15, the signage was changed, with employees posing for posterity with their new equipment on Tuesday morning. “The hardest part is over,” Martial Kleinclaus confided on Friday 18, referring to all work dependent on external companies. Including this change in signage, from the small door poster to the parking lot including the large signs. For the store director, who took office on April 24, 2023, this step is also a heartbreak. “This is a historic moment. You only experience a change of brand once in your career. It’s delicate on an emotional level but it’s a special moment. There is no revolution, it is support for the teams, we are excited. If this (the disappearance of the Cora brand, editor’s note) happened, it was because it was becoming complicated. There, we benefit from the Carrefour brand, from all the marketing, it’s interesting. »
We ask him the question: what about the number of employees? The installation of a length of automatic checkouts raising many questions. “We remain the same number of people. ” How much ? “Around 200. The cash register, there are a lot of skeletal risks, repetitive tasks. Our goal is to improve working conditions. In reality, we are looking for people, from managers to employees. »
The few employees we meet seem quite calm, in the same dynamic. If the transformation of the store will take place little by little, Martial Kleinclaus has endeavored to keep the configuration of the shopping center and its specificities. From the “café”, just as historic, to the “large volumes”, maintained. Referring to “guarantees from management on employment”, the mayor of Bettancourt Dominique Laurent is delighted with the opening of Carrefour, which will “reinvigorate this sector. As a locomotive, that’s always a good thing. »
N. F.
The hypermarket in several key dates
– April 1961: opening of the first supermarket in Saint-Dizier, in Cornée-Renard, Les Eco.
– 1969: creation of the Cora brand on a national level.
– 1971: construction of the Gro hypermarket, where Carrefour is located, avenue de la Loubert.
– 1973: opening of the Gro store.
– January 4, 1977: inauguration of the Cora hypermarket.
– January 30, 1981: change of status of the store as a secondary establishment of the national company Cora.
– July 1, 2024: takeover of the Cora brand by the Carrefour group in France.
– October 14, 2024: change of signage: removal of the Cora sign and installation of the Carrefour sign.
– October 25, 2024: official opening of the Carrefour hypermarket with ribbon cutting.
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The hypermarket is recruiting, in different sectors, to strengthen the current workforce.
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A 43 year old advertisement. (jhm archives)
