Carrefour Romania reaches 178 Express units nationwide in 2024, by opening 16 integrated stores and six franchise stores. The entire proximity network is served by 144 integrated stores (including stores acquired following the acquisition of Romania Hypermarche), and 34 franchise stores. The expansion of the Express format is a strategic objective for Carrefour, based on the competitive advantages of proximity stores, ensuring high accessibility and time savings for customers.

For 2025, Carrefour aims to accelerate the development plans of the Express format with over 40 integrated and franchise stores, focusing mainly on small locations, under 100 sqm, located both in pedestrian areas with intense traffic and within important projects in new residential areas.

“The Express store format is the one that recorded the highest growth in 2024. We have sensed this trend in previous years and have allocated resources to support consistent double-digit growth. We have implemented a new strategy to test small surfaces, which allows us to accelerate the pace of store openings in 2025, with the objective of exceeding the number of stores opened in 2024. The retail market will continue to grow in 2025, and the proximity format will continue to be a strong driver in the future,” said Roxana Cernica, Small Formats Business Unit Director Carrefour Romania.

“We are investing in remodeling stores opened over five to seven years ago, where refreshment is both necessary and welcome. To support the productivity of our colleagues, we continue to equip stores with electronic labels, and to always keep up with customer requirements, we install self-checkout kiosks in the right locations, thus responding to the enthusiasm of those who already use them in our stores. The Express format remains the most dynamic business line for Carrefour, and we maintain our flexibility to invest in projects that bring added value, in areas that are in full expansion,” said Nicolae Drîmbu, Carrefour Romania Proximity Business Unit Director.