I too recently saw someone rocking a tiny trader joes canvas bag. I think TJ’s would kill it here but idk. Maybe just the wine section would do well. Local operators selling what looks like discount wines for full price could be annihilated.
If you thought that was bad, wait until you meet Mr Uni-President!
Guy
Cheap, tasty, extremely unhealthy. 
Guy
Like i said, repackaged local
who doesn’t like oil+sugar+air
and a little dairy
so it’s not real ice cream then? what is it? Carrefour brand partially gelatinenated non-dairy gum based frozen food product?
probably lol. it still tastes good
I noticed the disappearance of a broad swathe of cheeses… it’s now ‘fake’ cheese, mis-named cheese, and very few of the original cheeses, just mass market cheese from irony of irony “President” in France.
I now go to Mia’s for cheese. But even there, the selection is poor. Carrefour won’t be able to replace those suppliers easily, because the French store sourced from French farmers. The staff blamed shipping issues (it clearly wasn’t) when I asked.
Someone’s got to pay the outsize interest rates on the private loans for the purchase.
It’s the death of cheese. been on life support for years already
The equally insane: go global trend that persuaded everyone to open supermarkets everywhere is now balanced by the equally insane: concentrate your efforts only on the most profitable ones. Both philosophies of doing business are part & parcel of the trends of those decades.
In fairness, local companies have gobbled up: I kid you not -
Carrefour was originally part owned by President
Tesco by Carrefour
Sogo by Far Eastern
Takashimaya by Dayeh Group
Wellcome by Carrefour
RT Mart by PX Mart
Carrefour by President
Matsusei by PX Mart
In fact PX Mart has bought numerous other stores over the years.
OK Mart by Simple Mart
While there is little homogenization between the competing groups, there is quite a lot of homogenization from having 5 PX marts within reasonable distance.
I’m increasingly buying imported products from the department store supermarkets for a bit of variety and/or Shopee… but that can be a bit iffy for all sorts of reasons.
BTW, President also owns, or has owned parts of, Costco, Starbucks, Mr. Donuts… their tentacles are very, very long.
Other entrants have completely misunderstood the local market, and/or not been patient enough. M&S entered, blew it, and closed down almost as quickly. Boots came and left almost as quickly. B&Q came, invested and left. Dunkin donuts came, expanded, closed up, and left. BR Ice cream came & left & is back. The list goes on and on…
Yep. Reminds me of Wendy’s in the mid 80s right up to the cusp of 2000. They couldn’t compete successfully against the cheaper fares at McD’s and KFC. Had a good run of about 15 years, though.
My biggest worry is the bakery. My son has sensory issues and really prefers Carrefour’s baguettes. Has anyone noticed anything with the bakeries? Are all of the bread products still available? (at the Carrefours that have the bread products - not all of them do)
Hopping on the Japanese trend from a few years ago?
Hmmm I thought people were mimicking some sort of K Pop idol’s style.
It is quite hilarious though to see all those Trader Joe’s bags around with no actual Trader Joe’s anywhere in sight!
Guy
Now they’re nakeries
not~bakeries or nakederies or knackerederies or ?
Aldi is in Australia, similar population but larger land mass, so more expensive to operate in, and they are doing well.
I think Aldi would do well in Taiwan. But only if they held 100% ownership / control.
Here in Treder Joe land in the Bay Area where we have a lot of Trader Joe’s you actually can’t buy too many of those bags at once I think they limit you to one bag at a time or two at most maybe the people carrying them bought them at US Trader Joe’s just retained them for their memory
I stopped by Trader Joe’s like twice three times a week on my way home there’s at least three Trader Joe’s on my way home and I can have my picK
And this is on my way home to San Francisco from the East Bay, but there’s a lot more Safeway’s just in a few miles before I get to my house in San Francisco. I have a choice of four Safeway I can go to.