Auchan

Auchan Retail International S.A.
Company typePrivate company, SA
IndustryRetail
Founded6 July 1961; 63 years ago (1961-07-06) [1]
FounderGérard Mulliez
Headquarters
Croix, Lille Métropole
,
France
Number of locations
2,101 points of sale[2] (2022)
Area served
France, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire
Key people
Edgard Bonte (Chairman)
ProductsHypermarket, Supermarket, Convenience store
Revenue
Increase €1.6 billion (2020)[3]
Increase €708 million (2020)[3]
Total assetsDecrease €1.169 billion (2020)[3]
Total equityDecrease €6.704 billion (2020)[3]
Number of employees
  • Decrease 160,407 (2022)[2]
  • 163,098 (2021)
  • 179,590 (2020)[3]
ParentELO
Websiteauchan-retail.com

Auchan (French pronunciation: [oʃɑ̃]) is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France.[4] It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company.[5] With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% stake in the company, it is the 35th largest employer in the world.

The first Auchan logo used from 1961 to 1983
Auchan hypermarket in Vélizy-Villacoublay, France

The company operates under the name Auchan in France, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Senegal, Ivory Coast, as Alcampo in Spain, as Aшан (Ashan) in Russia, Ukraine and Tajikistan. The company has also set up operations as Auchan in Italy, China and Taiwan.

The name comes from the first Auchan shop in Roubaix in the district of Hauts-Champs, the pronunciation of which is identical to that of "Auchan".[6]

As of 2022, Auchan is one of the world's largest retailers with a direct presence in France, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan and Senegal. In 2022, the company's revenue in Russia amounted to 237 billion rubles.[7]

Auchan is a rare example of a Western company continuing to operate in Russia after the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022,[8] as well as actively funding and supporting Russian military effort.[9][10] As a result, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention placed the company on its International Sponsors of War list.[11]

Auchan in Bieruń, Poland
  1. ^ "National Institute of Industrial Property (France)". 17 May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "ELO 2022 Annual Financial Report" (PDF). groupe-elo.com. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2020 Auchan Holding" (PDF). auchan-retail.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Contact Archived 30 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine." Auchan. Retrieved on 24 October 2012. "Groupe Auchan 40, avenue de Flandre – BP 139 59964 Croix Cedex – France"
  5. ^ "Auchan Holding Shareholding" (PDF). Auchan Holding. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  6. ^ Cédric Citrain, "A Cap occitan, on fête les 50 ans d'Auchan", Midi Libre" (Bézier edition),19 January 2011, p3.
  7. ^ "ООО "Ашан"". www.rusprofile.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  8. ^ "French retailer Auchan does not plan to change its Russia strategy". Reuters. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Auchan supplied Russian military under guise of "humanitarian aid"". news.yahoo.com. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  10. ^ "French company Auchan supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine, report says". POLITICO. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Auchan". NACP. Retrieved 24 August 2023.