Casino Group or Casino Guichard-Perrachon is a French mass-market retail group. It was founded on 2 August 1898 by Geoffroy Guichard under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co.[1]
Casino Group is the source of many innovations, such as the first distributor's brand in 1901,[2] the first self-service store in 1948,[3] or even the display of a sell-by date on consumer products in 1959.
Casino Group operates across all food and non-food formats: supermarkets, convenience stores, discount stores, and wholesale stores. Casino Group owns brands such as Monoprix, Franprix, Cdiscount, Vival, and Casino. Internationally, through its franchise subsidiary ExtenC, it also operates the Géant and Leader Price brands.
As of 2017 Casino Group, managed by Jean-Charles Naouri, was quoted on the Paris Stock Exchange and had total revenue of €37.8 billion.[4] As of November 2021, the group has a market capitalization of approximately €2.35 billion.[5]
Between June 2023 and October 2024, in the grip of a financial crisis linked to its debt, the group closed or sold all of its Casino supermarkets and Géant hypermarkets in France to competitors.[6] During this crisis, Casino and Géant brands are also gradually being replaced by competitors in various countries.[7]
The group employs 28,200 people in April 2024.[8]
In its results for the first half of 2024, the Casino group announced that the Leader Price franchise activities are part of the discontinued operations.
From 2024 a consortium led by Daniel Kretinsky will own and control 53.7% of Casino's share capital.[9]
History
Casino's genesis (1892–1898)
Geoffroy Guichard was born on 27 July 1867 in Feurs, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. His parents were the owners of a retail grocery business in Saint-Étienne. In 1889, he married Antonia Perrachon and became a partner with Paul Perrachon, his cousin-in-law, who had been the owner of a shop in the region for around ten years. Geoffroy Guichard became the sole business owner in 1892.[10] The store, located rue des Jardins, was originally the Lyrical Casino of Saint-Étienne. Closed in the 1850s,[11] the Lyrical Casino was transformed into a retail grocery store in the 1860s. Geoffroy Guichard grew the grocery store to turn it into a general food store, based on the Felix Potin model. In April 1898, due to the success of the concept, Geoffroy Guichard opened the first branch in Veauche, in Loire.[12]
The beginnings of Casino (1898–1904)
Activities of the group
Brands
In addition to its Casino supermarkets and hypermarkets, which closed in 2024, the group is developing the Géant (1970), Petit Casino and Casino Shop (1993, which became Casino in 2025) brands. The group also chose to develop a multi-brand strategy in the 1990s, under the leadership of Jean-Charles Naouri. It thus acquired various brands; Leader Price (1997), Vival (1999), Franprix (2007), Monoprix and Naturalia (2013).
International franchises
ExtenC is the subsidiary responsible for international franchises. By 2024, it will have 408 affiliated stores in 70 countries and territories.[57]
When publishing its annual results in February 2025, ExtenC, its international subsidiary, announced that it had opened 18 new stores, mainly Géant Express brands in the United Arab Emirates and Monoprix in Tunisia.
Former locations
Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates
In 2017, the Majid Al Futtaim Group purchased Retail Arabia, which owns the Géant stores, and replaced them with the Carrefour and Carrefour Market brands.[69]
France
On 30 November 2020, the Casino group announced the sale of 554 Leader Price stores, out of a network of 640 stores, to ALDI.[70] In its results for the first half of 2024, the Casino group announced that the Leader Price
Casino and the world of sport
Casino and sport association
Casino Group is the origin of the AS Saint-Étienne football Club, which was created in 1919. The Sports Social Club of Saint-Étienne was born more precisely as a sports section of the «Employees' Social Club of the Casino store company,» the organization created in 1912 by Casino to support its sports corporatism policy. The Social Club logically takes on board the green color of the grocery chain.[72][73]
A few months after the creation of the French Football Association-Federation (FFAF), the Social Club, more commonly named « AS Casino » (ASC), opened its football section in 1919, as well as other disciplines such as athletics and basketball. On 29 March 1920, under the initiative of Albert Jacquet, general secretary of the company, AS Casino became « the Social Sports Club » to respect the rules adopted by the Federation prohibiting the use of brands in the names of clubs, as well as keeping the initials. The club was then reserved for Casino employees, and the training center was located on the « Pont de l'âne » field, the property of the Group.
Seven years later, under the initiative of Pierre Guichard, son of Geoffroy Guichard who had become president of the club after MM. Godot and Jean Moulin, the Social Sports Club merged with the University Forez Stadium within the « Stéphanoise Sports Association » (SSA), which kept of course the green colour of the ASC.
Shareholding
Jean-Charles Naouri was the majority shareholder of Casino Group since 1992 via his Rallye SA company.[78]
From 2024 a consortium led by Daniel Kretinsky will own and control 53.7% of Casino's share capital.[79]
Financial highlights
Net business volume includes all revenue from consolidated companies, associates and franchisees, on a 100% basis.
Share information
ISIN: FR0000125585
- Groupe Casino shares are listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Compartment A)
- Par value: €1.53 per share
- Majority shareholders at end-2012 (voting rights): Free float: 38.6%; Groupe Rallye 59.3%; employees 2.1%.
Controversies
Kepler Cheuvreux
In August 2020, following anonymous threats and intimidations in Germany, the analyst stock, responsible for monitoring food retail trade from Kepler Cheuvreux, was forced to stop following Casino group and the German distribution brand Metro. The analyst had advised Kepler Cheuvreux's client investors to "hold" Metro's stock and to "reduce" their positions on Casino. Both groups have the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky as a minority shareholder. He, along with the Casino group, condemned the threats addressed to the analyst. Neither Kepler Cheuvreux nor the analyst have commented on this matter. An investigation is currently underway by the German police, while the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) has declared to "regret" this situation. The financial watchdog also indicated having informed the public prosecutor.[80]
Duty of Vigilance Law
In March 2020, eleven NGOs filed a lawsuit against the Casino group in French courts
See also
- Carrefour
- Companies of France
- European Retail Round Table
- List of companies of France
- List of hypermarkets
- Sherpa (brand)
External links
References
- L. S. A. Conso. 55 ans du supermarché: Les dates clés www.lsa-conso.fr, 24 October 2013, retrieved 23 August 2018^
- Casino : la petite épicerie de famille devenue Géant Le Figaro, 2007, retrieved 23 August 2018^
- Le premier Casino devenu cafétéria