Carrefour Chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard said repairs could exceed €10 million after Oct. 17 unrest affected 50 of the retailer’s stores in France, warning that closures and employee disruption may continue.
Nineteen of the affected convenience stores and supermarkets were looted, Bompard said. He named Paris, Rennes, Lille and Bordeaux among the cities hit, and estimated that 1,500 stores belonging to other chains were also affected.
Bompard said the most heavily damaged Carrefour locations could remain closed for an extended period. He also said dozens of employees at Carrefour franchise partners could face partial unemployment. He urged faster compensation for shopkeepers, comparing the process he wants with procedures used after natural disasters. “Nothing can justify such violence,” he said.
France’s Finance Ministry scheduled a business council with business groups, retailers, banks and insurers for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5 a.m. ET (9 a.m. UTC), following the damage to businesses.
