Amazon eyes Carrefour acquisition
retaildetail.eu
retaildetail.eu
On HN, we wait until a thing actually happens. There's no harm in doing so, and then there's substance to discuss.
https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=...
ps: that said, I despise large retail stores
And it's good to remember that getting acquired by yahoo has been a death sentence for a few sites.
Do they have a word to say on the issue?
But really, Carrefour is a big name in France. If Amazon buys it and the government either does nothing or fails to prevent it, the French left-wing will go nuts.
The French government can even write new laws if need be. France is only theoretically capitalistic, in practice the weight of the government is heavy on companies.
Since the competition is fierce in retailing, it would not fly anyway.
If amazon manage to negotiate the acquisition, I don't think it can be easily stopped. Even if my country forbid it for obscure reasons, Europe would probably override the decision.
It's funny reading the reactions from my french co-citizens, like they are talking about selling the Eiffel Tower.
EDIT: I thought it was Ireland, in this case it was Luxembourg.
PS I fixed my comment, I thought it was Ireland but in this case it was Luxembourg.
A chain of convenience stores is useful to Amazon. They'll all get Amazon Lockers, of course. You'll be able to get everything Amazon sells at those stores, if you just order ahead. They'll probably have same-day delivery to their own stores.
Small scale retail in France is going to take a big hit from this.
I don't know how much it costs Amazon but this is already the case. I always get my Amazon products from the Carrefour next door.
Anything is possible but, to me, an attempt to raise valuation is the most likely explanation. Sources are always "analysts" who seem to have skin in the game.
It's also unlikely that a noticeable amount of customers will care, as people generally don't shop groceries based on which corporation owns what.
I guess that's one way of thinking about them. If you haven't, I hope you never have the displeasure of visiting an actual American shopping mall.
source: I lived half my life in America, half in Europe.
In the US, a much larger / lower population density country, physically getting to a grocery on a daily basis isn't practical.
I don't see this as being about "healthier alternatives" or "saving a few bucks." I can't do European-style grocery shopping in the US /despite/ my preference for it.
I'm not sure that's a very good example of a competitor. Carrefour is French, Ahold is Dutch. They don't compete in France, nor in the Netherlands. They both have supermarkets in Belgium, though. Furthermore, Carrefour is known for their hypermarkets which are much larger than regular supermarkets.
Ahold Delhaize merger is rumored to be a failure. There is an on going war between Dutch and Belgian executives. Recently a Dutch has been appointed ceo of the belgian entity, which was not very well received at all.
Ahold Delhaize is a competitor to Carrefour not only in Belgium but also in eastern Europe (but these are still relatively small markets).
Afaik they have no shops in Latin America nor China, where Carrefour has strong positions.
Edit: Google maps finds eleven Carrefour stores in Shenyang alone.
I wonder why they think that? What could collaboration with Google bring?
> Amazon has so much power over the US retail economy that it imposes its power over all participants.
> If it is going to be a monopoly, it should be regulated like other monopolies. Or perhaps more.
> Amazon has so much market share that its sheer size distorts the market.
> We should not allow a company to have a share over around 10% of any market. If in a certain field a single dominant company is beneficial for society, that means it is a natural monopoly, and should be served by a regulated utility.