History

The establishment situated rue des Jardins was originally the Lyrical Casino of Saint-Étienne. Closed because of questionable morals, it became a retail grocery business in 1860 and kept its original name: “Casino”. After the Perrachon family, it was Geoffroy Guichard who became, in 1892, the sole owner of the business.

In order to protect itself from competition and promote products manufactured in its factories, the Casino brand was created in 1901 and registered in 1904. The number of Casino products rapidly developed: grocery, confectionary, deli, perfumes, drug store, wines and liquors… As from the creation of the brand, the quality policy was reaffirmed. Raw materials were controlled and verified to ensure constant quality.

As of the end of the year 1929, Casino’s top management considered creating a stadium that could host, among other things, the activities of the « Association Sportive du Casino” (Casino Sports Association) that was founded in 1920 and that will become the famous A.S.S.E (Sports Association of Saint-Etienne). Until then, the football teams used a field that was loaned by the company. Players wear green and white, the Casino Group colors.

Casino’s top management agrees to rent a plot of 38,000 sqm to the Sports Association “for a long period and for only one franc per year”. On September 13, 1931, the Geoffroy Guichard stadium was officially opened: it included a football field, training grounds, an athletics track, basketball and volleyball courts and a first stage of stands with 800 seats out of the 3,200 seats and 10,000 standing places initially planned.

During a study trip in the USA and Canada, the managing team looked at the organization in stores, particularly self-service, and the presence of refrigerated units. On 27th October 1948, the first self-service branch opened in Saint-Étienne. Success was immediate. Over 10 years, 500 branches adopted this new sales principle. Alongside, the development of a real cooling chain started. Warehouses started to get equipped with cooling chambers and stores were equipped with refrigerated units.

The first 700 m2 Casino supermarket opened on 18th May 1960 in Grenoble. It was self-service and offered customers low prices and a wide choice, with specialized aisles – a cold meat counter, a butcher’s, a deli and a cold aisle were all very important. Trolleys enabled easier circulation. Another novelty : vacuum-packed meat in a cutting workshop visible to all customers in the store. Consumers came from far-away cities and towns to discover this new store, encouraged by mass presentations. A few months later, 4 other supermarkets were opened.

The first Géant Casino hypermarket opened in Marseille on 25th March 1970. With a surface of 16 000 m2, it was one of the biggest stores in France. The shopping mall counted 41 independent businesses and a Casino cafeteria with 400 seats. Géant Casino offered its consumers around 65 000 products for clothing, leisure, home and of course, food products.

On January 26, 1986, 3,500 employees rallied on the snowy lawn of the Geoffroy Guichard stadium to create a living fresco of the Casino group logo. Journalists will write that only the Casino group is capable of such an involvement.

In October 1992, the Rallye Company of Brest brought to Casino Group all of its distribution and restaurant activities. The network of Rallye stores was composed of 49 Hyper Rallye, 232 supermarkets Rallye Super, 29 Auto-Service, 70 Marest cafeterias and 6 warehouses. Following this deal, Rallye owned 29% of Casino Group’s total capital.

In December 1996, Casino Group signed a partnership agreement in the purchasing and logistics domains with Monoprix, a branch of Galeries Lafayettes. In 1997, Monoprix purchased the whole of Prisunic’s capital, with the support of Casino Group which became a shareholder of the new Group at 21,6%. At that time, there were 360 Monoprix and Prisunic stores, spread across the whole of France. In June 2012, Casino Group purchased the remaining 50% of Monoprix.

In September 1997, Casino Group became a majority shareholder in the Franprix-Leader Price network and also ensured a national presence in the Discount domain with 265 Leader Price stores and a considerable presence in the Paris Region with 383 Franprix stores.

Both rooted in its territory and with its extensive status of international brand-banner present in more than 40 countries, Spar is a leading recognized neighborhood food retailer in fast developing geographical areas thanks to its traditional departments and its strong visual identity.

Revival of Vival, the convenience store banner: as France’s leading food franchiser, Vival offers a concept well adapted to rural areas. Its product offering combines the best of what the Casino brand can offer as well as the essentials of major national brands. Vival also offers a wide range of services: post office, Horse racing betting office, parcel collection point, money transfer… Locally, it is a much appreciated meeting place where to exchange.

Equity participation in the Colombian and Brazilian retailing groups Grupo Éxito and GPA: In 1999, the Casino group takes a 25% stake in Grupo Éxito, the Colombian retailing group that opened a convenience store in Medellin in 1949. Grupo Éxito grew around a multi-format model (hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience and discounts stores).

Created in 1998, Cdiscount is a subsidiary of Casino Group since February 2000. Initially specialized in the sale of secondhand CDs, the company has since expanded its offer with more than 100 million products on sale in the following categories : home, high-tech, leisure, fashion and food but also in energy, health, travel and optical services.

Reference shareholder of the Group since 1992, Jean-Charles Naouri became CEO of Casino in March 2005. Jean-Charles Naouri started his career in the civil service as a tax inspector. In 1987, Jean-Charles Naouri joined the Rothschild Bank and then founded its investment company called Euris. In 1991, he acquired the Breton distributor Rallye. Convinced in the potential of this field and the two companies united together, he brought Rallye into the Casino Group, in which he became the reference shareholder.

GPA acquires in 2007 60% of the shares of Assaí Atacadista, a self-service wholesale network (“cash-and-carry”) and its remaining shares in 2009. Created in 1974 in the city of São Paulo, this banner was initially intended for a clientele of small businesses (restaurant and shop owners). Since then, it has opened outlets in 17 states all over Brazil. Assaí Atacadista now caters to both small retailers and individuals who are attracted by the low prices of wholesale. In 2017, the stores offered more than 7 000 references of major brands: groceries, fresh products, drinks, household products, self-serve general store goods, hygiene… The low operational cost, the competitive prices, and the volume of goods ensure the success of the model, which is experiencing double-digit sales growth.

In 2007, the Casino Group became the majority shareholder of Grupo Exito.

Naturalia is one of the leading banners in France specialized in organic farming products. In 2008, when they acquired this banner, Casino group and Monoprix clearly identified that organic farming was not going to remain a niche market. Naturalia is the first specialized organic banner acquired by a large retailing group. Its assortment, which combines organic with pleasure, includes fresh products, organic groceries, natural cosmetics and food supplements, including brands that are only present in specialized stores and a range of own brand products. In 2017, as a result to its initial success, Naturalia opened a new brand, not only organic but also vegan, called “Naturalia Vegan” then additionally in 2018, the “Naturalia Origines” banner was launched, a banner dedicated to well-being and alternative medicines.

Casino Group became in 2012 the controlling shareholder of GPA, n°1 of distribution in Brazil. This takeover gave a new dimension to Casino Group and made it one of the first distributors in the world.

In 2017, Casino Group took a decisive step forward in food e-business by signing a partnership agreement with the British Cybermarket Ocado. The agreement states that Ocado will provide its expertise and its logistical technology to build, by 2020, a high-tech automated warehouse in the Paris region which will optimize food delivery. Monoprix will be the first brand to take advantage of this logistical platform.

The Casino Group and start-up RedPill have partnered to launch their own start-up, relevanC. Aiming to provide advertisers with pertinent big data, the new company’s business model has the distinction of being based on consumers’ actual purchases rather than solely on their online behaviour.

In 2018, Monoprix bought out Sarenza, the leader in footwear sales on the Internet. This deal allowed for the combination of a strong network, fashion, home design and the beauty of the Monoprix teams with the know-how in e-business of Sarenza to create a real and unique “multi-channel lifestyle” leader. Another step forward for Monoprix in 2018 : the first business partnership signed by a general food brand with the Giant Amazon.

Casino group, through its Franprix banner, together with L’Oréal France decided to join their know-how to launch an entirely new concept intended for urban dwellers under the name of “… le drugstore parisien”. This concept revolutionizes the act of beauty and well-being consumption in the French capital. Two outlets opened in the heart of Paris and were inaugurated in the summer of 2018.

The Casino Group and its long-standing partner Prodistribution opened on October 3rd “Le 4 Casino”, a place to eat, relax and shop where digital services enhance and simplify the day-to-day shopping experience. The store’s offering is unique, with a gourmet grocery aisle, a selection of Casino food items, a large proportion of organic and vegan products in the mix, exclusive products from guest brands and chefs, a Cdiscount showroom with a co-working space, and even a state-of-the-art wine cellar.

Casino Group joined hands with three independent organizations recognized for their expertise in favor of animal welfare (Compassion In World Farming France-CIWF France, La Fondation Droit Animal, éthique et sciences -LFDA and the association Œuvre d’Assistance aux bêtes d’Abattoirs -OABA) to offer the first labeling on animal welfare. This approach, unprecedented in France, aims at strengthening transparency on animals’ breeding, transport and slaughter conditions and therefore at giving clear and reliable information to the consumers.

Start-up of operations at the order fulfilment centre designed with Ocado, which offers Monoprix customers in the Greater Paris area next-day delivery service.

Casino Group and its e-commerce subsidiary Cdiscount have opened a unique outlet in Paris dedicated to wines, spirits and beers: La Nouvelle Cave. This new business combines physical and digital offers and services. La Nouvelle Cave reinvents the notion of cellar by adopting an innovative vision: to be accessible to both novices and experts alike.

In addition to its traditional banners, GPA has developed, with its banner Assaí, a cash & carry model that is a huge success. The decision was taken in 2020 to form a separate entity around Assaí, and to list it on the stock exchange. This “spin-off” aims to release the full growth potential of GPA and Assaí, two entities that do business in different ways, thus giving everyone the means to pursue their own ambitions.