Système U
Encyclopedia
Système U is a French retailers' cooperative
, comprising about eight hundred independent hypermarkets, and supermarkets, headquartered in the Parc Tertiaire SILIC in Rungis
, France
.
It owns the trademarks Hyper U, Super U, Marché U and Utile, which are used by its members. It had a pre-tax turnover of 12.7 billion euro in 2002 and 13.8 billion in 2003 , rising to 15.6 billion euro in 2007; this makes the company the sixth largest retail group in France.
It is directly descended from the Pain Quotidien ('daily bread') cooperative which was founded in western France in 1894. It arranged a strategic alliance with the larger E.Leclerc
supermarket group in 1999.
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, comprising about eight hundred independent hypermarkets, and supermarkets, headquartered in the Parc Tertiaire SILIC in Rungis
Rungis
Rungis is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, in the département of Val-de-Marne.It is best known as the location of the large wholesale food market serving the Paris metropolitan area and beyond, the Marché d'Intérêt National de Rungis, said to be the largest food market in the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
It owns the trademarks Hyper U, Super U, Marché U and Utile, which are used by its members. It had a pre-tax turnover of 12.7 billion euro in 2002 and 13.8 billion in 2003 , rising to 15.6 billion euro in 2007; this makes the company the sixth largest retail group in France.
It is directly descended from the Pain Quotidien ('daily bread') cooperative which was founded in western France in 1894. It arranged a strategic alliance with the larger E.Leclerc
E.Leclerc
E.Leclerc is a French hypermarket chain, headquartered in Ivry-sur-Seine. The chain enables semi-independent stores to operate under the Leclerc brand.E.Leclerc was established on 1st January 1948....
supermarket group in 1999.
The sub-brands
There are three brands found within Système U:- The largest (in size terms) is the hypermarket Hyper U, which accounts for 15.89% of the group. There are 48 Hyper U stores, which account for a total of 239,293 square metres of retail space (at an average of 4985 square metres per store). The average spend per trip is €43.60. . These are generally found outside of larger towns, but normally as stand-alone structures (rather than as part of a shopping centre)
- The next brand down (in terms of size) is Super U which accounts for 79.58% of the group. There are 672 Super U stores, which account for a total of 1,355,004 square metres of retail space (at an average of 2016 square metres per store). The average spend per trip is €33.30. These are your typical supermarket, and are found either in the centre of, or on the outskirts of smaller towns. Again they exist as standalone structures.
- Within city centres (and in rural areas), there are smaller stores known as Marché U (subdivided once again into Marché U and Marché U Urbaine), which accounts for 4.53% of the group. There are 143 Marché U stores, which account for a total of 104,468 square metres of retail space (at an average of 730 square metres per store). The average spend per trip is €17.00.