Combining innovation and tradition for a new customer experience

Not long ago, most supermarkets looked exactly the same: huge, standardised warehouses with products stacked on identical shelves. Today’s emphasis on providing an enjoyable customer experience, however, has transformed old-style shopping into a journey of discovery through past traditions and ideas for the future. The supermarket has become part of the community and now welcomes shoppers to an environment more similar to the local markets of yesteryear. The latest supermarkets are meeting places where you can lose yourself among the aromas of fresh-baked bread and biscuits and stylish wooden displays: they have very little in common with the super-stores of the ’90s.
When it refurbished its Saint Marcel outlet recently, Carrefour was eager to innovate. The design of the renovated store therefore combines the contemporary and the traditional and delivers the friendliness, quality and efficiency customers now demand. This Paris location is only a few kilometres away from the famous di Notre Dame cathedral, one of the best loved symbols of the French capital. Carrefour’s new supermarket for the local community features a completely original look and offers a whole new customer experience, with a clear emphasis on friendliness and simplicity dominating the aisles. The colourful signage is in large letters and the interior settings seem copied directly from an interior design magazine. Every little detail has been carefully thought out to create an architecture of simple lines and close integration with the surrounding area.
The aim of the refurbishment project was to create a harmonious space where locals and visitors would be happy to do their shopping, wander around the fresh food counters, or have a coffee at one of the many catering points. The Saint Marcel Carrefour therefore offers customers a warm welcome and makes their daily lives easier by providing all the services that could be expected of a 21st century supermarket. The interior design is plain but reflects careful attention to detail. In this new-concept supermarket, the consumer plays the lead role and chooses how to interact with the surroundings.
The architect chose a combination of 7.5×30 cm gloss and matt tiles from Marca Corona’s Tone collection for this project, producing lively yet refined surfaces, and creating a welcoming, cheerful atmosphere. A herringbone laying pattern makes the environment even more original and lively.
This Carrefour supermarket accurately interprets the needs of today’s customers, who demand the sort of quality and friendliness once found in local markets before mass retail became the norm. The new Saint Marcel store has a truly distinctive identity. An attractive shopping destination, it provides a unique sensory experience, with colours that alternate like those on an artist’s palette, the aroma of fresh baked bread and plenty of self-service sections offering a wide range of products. More than a shopping trip, a visit to this new Carrefour is a journey of discovery through the flavours of past and present.