How competitive is competitive? I don't think any imported chain beating the US giants is plausible. Shopping cultures are too different. It's nothing to do with size alone - WalMart crashed and burned in Germany.
What I could see is Carrefour making its way into the US market in the late 70s or 80s, in the course of early globalisation, and establishing its brand at the low end of upscale using its Frenchness and genuine concern for quality. A sitcom character going 'To Carrefour' would be established as a pretentious bourgeois. Give it ten years and it's part of the US cultural scene.
Short of some well-meant but majorly disruptive lehislation crippling the US supermarket industry at birth, I don't think it's plausible for any foreign company to dominate the market, though. Not without altering the economic fundamentals of the twentieth century.
How competitive is competitive? I don't think any imported chain beating the US giants is plausible. Shopping cultures are too different. It's nothing to do with size alone - WalMart crashed and burned in Germany.
What I coulöd see is Carrefour making its way into the US market in the late 70s or 80s, in the course of early globalisation, and establishing its brand at the low end of upscale using its Frenchness andgenuine concern for quality. A sitcom character going 'To Carrefour' would be established as a pretentious bourgeois. Give it ten years and it's part of the US cultural scene.
Short of some well-meant but majorly disruptive lehislation crippling the US supermarket industry at birth, I don't think it's plausible for any foreign company to dominate the market, though. Not without altering the economic fundamentals of the twentieth century.
Eh, Carrefours may not be el-cheapo stores as Aldi or Lidl (don't know any US equivalents) but they are far from being classy enough for the bourgeoisie to like to shop there. At least here in Belgium they sit in the middle as far as price and looks go. In fact, by themselves seemingly not knowing where they sit they got to the point of having to close of a lot of stores by June this year.