Carrefour, no more: Supermarket chain to use new name from July

Taipei, May 20 (CNA) Carrefour Taiwan will begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said Wednesday.

Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先), chairman of President Chain Store Co., was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand.

In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name.

Lo replied that because of both local regulations and contractual obligations, the company cannot use or even mention the brand's new name until the end of June.

While the new name will be used from July 1, the process of replacing signs and other forms of branding "will not be completed overnight," and will extend beyond that date for some time, he said.

President Chain Store Co.'s parent company, the Uni-President Group conglomerate, acquired full ownership of Carrefour Taiwan in 2022 through the acquisition of a 60 percent stake owned by the supermarket's French parent company.

It announced plans late last year to change the supermarket brand's name.

Uni-President also runs the Taiwan franchises of 7-Eleven, Starbucks, Cold Stone Creamery, and Mister Donut, as well as local brands such as Cosmed and books.com.tw.