Two months after Jordan: Carrefour closes operations in Oman

About two months after closing its operations in Jordan, the French retail giant Carrefour is also ceasing its operations in Oman. The chain announced the move on its Facebook and Instagram accounts and apologized to customers, without giving further explanations.

According to a report published in Gulf business, Carrefour Oman ceased operations in the country on January 7, and is starting to operate the branches under another brand called Hypermax, a supermarket chain operated by maf – Majid Al Futaim, who is also the one who operated the Carrefour branches in the country since 1995. According to the report, he holds the rights to the chain in the Middle East and North Africa, and as of 2020, operated approximately 320 points of sale Carrefour in 16 countries.

The announcement comes two months after an identical move was made in Jordan last November, when the Hypermax brand name also replaced the Carrefour logo. According to some publications, the step came against the background of the war that has been going on for the past year, during which Jordanian consumers actively participated in the boycott of Carrefour initiated by the BDS movement, which significantly affected the company’s sales and caused significant decreases in profits.

However, while quite a few comments in Jordan showed mockery and support for the closure at the time, this time there are also quite a few comments expressing regret for the decision.

The boycott led by BDS is designed to put pressure on international companies that are perceived as supporting Israel, directly or indirectly. Carrefour operates branches in approximately 50 countries in the world through local franchisees, such as Electra Khemeh, a Carrefour franchisee in Israel, which received the franchise in Israel and launched operations in May 2023. The boycott intensified against the background of the war in Gaza, which broke out after the terrorist organization Hamas attacked, massacred, raped and murdered Israeli children, women and men, Muslims and tourists, on October 7, 2023.

Carrefour Israel cuts losses

As mentioned, the Carrefour chain opened in Israel with a huge launch in May 2023, but BDS began to make noise already in 2022, after the announcement of its entry into Israel. BDS called on Carrefour to terminate the franchise agreement with Israel and stop the sale of all products from the settlements.

What else moved the movement on her mind was the fact that the Carrefour operator, Electra Consumers, gave packages to soldiers during the war. In the movement, they claimed that Carrefour Israel had suffered significant financial losses since its establishment, and called on the international company to examine the continuation of operations in Israel, however, in fact, in recent quarters the investment began to bear fruit, with the reduction of losses and the increase of sales.

Carrefour Israel ended the year 2024 with a significant expansion with 126 branches, of which 14 were opened in December. Carrefour includes about 14,000 branches in about 50 countries, and its sales turnover in 2023 was about 94 billion euros.