Carrefour goes into corner stores

The first Carrefour City opened its doors in the 16th district of Paris. This store will have as characteristics to be relatively small (approximately 410 m²), to be located in town centre and to have opening hours adapted to the urban life (6/7 days of 7:00AM to 11:00PM). This "mini-market" will be composed of 3 distinct areas:
o snacking and ready-made meals
o traditional products
o relaxation area at the store entrance (microwaves, coffee machines, bar and chairs)

That shows that Carrefour tries to widen its horizons by deciding to target the urban population who does not want to move out to the downtown areas to make its purchases.
It is a premiere in France but Carrefour had already tried out this system in Brussels since a similar store had opened in September 2008 on the Chaussée de Charleroi.
Carrefour thinks about opening two other Carrefour City away from Paris:
o in Nimes on January 23rd
o in Avignon on February 4th

I have personally tested out it in Belgium and I can say that it is a very good system for the people who do not wish to make haute cuisine. But the store sells interesting number of products.