Carrefour, one of the world's largest hypermarket chains, attempted to establish itself in Hong Kong but shut down its stores after only four years. The French company was unable to find adequate locations and was priced out by the city's two existing supermarkets.Carrefour first entered the Hong Kong market in 2003, when it purchased the ParknShop supermarket chain.
After then, the company developed several hypermarkets in the city, but it was unable to compete with the two leading grocery chains, Wellcome and ParknShop.Carrefour announced its exit from the Hong Kong market in 2007, selling its ParknShop shops to Wellcome. This was a significant blow for the corporation, which had extensively invested in the Hong Kong market.
Carrefour remains a key player in the worldwide retail sector, notwithstanding its failure in Hong Kong. The firm operates over 12,000 outlets in over 30 countries.