Carrefour Argentina, nation's largest supermarket chain, declares bankruptcy

[sandensea]

Carrefour Argentina, the nation's largest supermarket chain, has announced it's declaring bankruptcy.

The company, a subsidiary of the Paris-based multinational retailer, is seeking a reorganization of its debts similar to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy under U.S. law.

Carrefour, which opened its first Argentine supermarket in 1982, operates 585 stores in the country and has a 20% market share.

Company spokesmen have publicly assured the firm's 19,000 employees that layoffs will be limited to 1,000 offers of voluntary retirement. "Our objective is finding solutions to guarantee the sustainability of our operations in Argentina," a Carrefour spokesman said.

Minutes from a board meeting leaked earlier this year, however, confirm that the company plans to close 11 of its largest stores, affecting 2,700 employees.

"We expected this because we were aware of Carrefour's plans for downsizing," Mario Amado, trade union delegate for Carrefour's Warnes Avenue (Buenos Aires) store, told Página/12. "They have a plan in mind that they do not intend to give up - and they send managers to tell people that there will be no layoffs. Carrefour is not acting in good faith."

Carrefour's woes are typical of much of Argentina's retail sector since President Mauricio Macri enacted a 40% devaluation within days of taking office in December 2015.

Inflation initially doubled to 45% in 2016, and has remained at 25% since then. The government opposes any collective bargaining raise in excess of 15% for this year, triggering a series of massive strikes.

Annual sales in Argentina's leading supermarket chains have fallen by 16% since Macri took office, from $25 billion in 2015 to $21 billion last year.

Nor are customers shifting their business to smaller venues. The Argentine Medium Business Chamber (CAME), which includes most smaller retail chains, reports an 8% decline in real sales from 2015 to 2017 - with another 2% decline as of this March.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F106253-en-las-gondolas-del-super-madura-el-ajuste&edit-text=

A Carrefour market in Buenos Aires. The French-based chain was a top contributor to Mauricio Macri's right-wing campaign in 2015.

[Judi Lynn]

1. "You've done a heckuva job here, Mauri!" "Let's give the fuhrer a big round of applause!"

So much damage in only two years.

His heroes from the earlier dictatorship would be proud of him, wouldn't they?

Can you imagine what has happened to those businesses which did NOT contribute heavily to Mauricio Macri's strange campaign?

This is yet another mind-blowing milepost in the right-wing takeover of a country which was completely dragged out of hell by Néstor Kirchner not so very many years ago before he suddenly died, in a heart attack no one had ever anticipated. We all remember that he, himself, had been a prisoner of the right-wing vicious military dictatorship before it finally ended. Clearly, he had always been despised by the fascists always.

The point was passed during the first year when after the first waves of mind-blowing reverses were inflicted on the people of Argentina by Macri and his people. Every step into the Twilight Zone since then has been as horrific as the first ones.

Thank you, sandensea, for the news. It's a real shame to see a company with so much invested in the country take this kind of punishment.

[sandensea]

2. You're not kidding. Carrefour Argentina grew phenomenally in the Kirchner years - until Mr. IMF.

One big success was their Carrefour Express minimarkets - which until the Kirchner era no corporate retailer would go into as their sales potential was just too small to be worth the investment. They now have hundreds, which one runs into almost anywhere in Buenos Aires and the other larger cities.

They were nevertheless displeased because the Kirchners opposed Carrefour's union-busting attempts (like many retail chains here in the U.S. and around the world, as you know).

Fortunately, Argentine bankruptcy laws allow for corporate debt restructuring plans (concursos preventivos) that by law must be designed to inflict as few layoffs as possible - another Kirchner-era reform. My guess is they'll be ok, and so will most of their staff.

Thanks again for your knowledgeable commentary and wit, Judi. God knows we need more of that.