Carrefour City: a new franchise store opens in Nîmes

Carrefour City has a new store in Nîmes, at 81 rue de la République. Led by franchisee Lionel Graufogel, the opening was announced by L’Express Franchise on 6 November 2026 and forms part of the brand’s expansion in convenience grocery retail. Other projects highlighted by the network in Soissons, Portiragnes and Mées show the variety of entrepreneurial journeys behind these stores.

In Nîmes, a franchisee takes charge on rue de la République

The new Carrefour City in Nîmes has opened under the management of Lionel Graufogel. The franchisee and his team launched the store at 81 rue de la République with the stated aim of making it a lasting part of neighbourhood life.

The store serves both local residents and people working nearby. It is positioned as a shop for everyday essentials, suited to urban lifestyles. According to the report published by L’Express Franchise, the opening involved both the franchisee and teams from the group.

This opening illustrates the role of local entrepreneurs in the development of Carrefour Proximité, the group’s convenience retail network. Behind the national brand, a named franchisee and his team are taking responsibility for the new business. For those following the franchise sector, this is therefore news of an actual opening, rather than a search for a franchisee or a proposed location.

In Soissons, a second store for a local franchisee

Other news highlighted by Carrefour Proximité includes the opening of a Carrefour City in the Saint-Crépin neighbourhood of Soissons, in the Aisne department of northern France. The project is led by a franchisee who already runs another store in the town.

This route differs from that of an entrepreneur joining the network to open their first store. In Soissons, expansion is being driven by an established local operator taking charge of another outlet under the same brand.

The Nîmes and Soissons announcements thus provide two concrete examples of franchisee-led openings. On their own, however, they do not establish the pace of openings across France. Their value lies in identifying individual projects and the people behind them, rather than turning local examples into an overall assessment of the network.

Lease-management arrangements in Portiragnes and Mées

Other Carrefour Proximité news highlights the use of lease-management arrangements, known in France as location-gérance, under which an operator leases an existing business to run it. In Portiragnes, Mélanie and Thomas took over a Carrefour City in the spring as part of a career change and a move to the south of France. The brand presents their story as a change of lifestyle made possible by taking over an existing shop.

In Mées, near Dax in the Landes department of south-west France, Alexandre and Arnaud Ranoux attended the opening of a new Carrefour City. The two brothers, who come from the region, chose to combine their skills in a family business venture, also under a lease-management arrangement.

These two examples should be distinguished from the Nîmes opening: the Nîmes announcement identifies Lionel Graufogel as a franchisee, while those for Portiragnes and Mées explicitly refer to lease-management arrangements. For prospective operators, this distinction underlines the need to examine the structure offered for each store rather than treating every announcement from a brand as equivalent.

Putting the advertised personal investment into context

In its communications about the Mées project, Carrefour Proximité states that a personal investment of €7,500 enables candidates to become convenience store operators. The network also promotes expert support, two months of free, paid training, a turnkey store and remuneration from the first month of operation.

These points form part of the brand’s recruitment offer. The €7,500 figure is an advertised personal capital contribution: it should not be presented as the total cost of opening the Nîmes store, or as a standard budget for every Carrefour City project.

Key takeaway for prospective operators: before comparing advertised investment figures, clarify the operating model, the conditions for accessing training and the financial requirements of the specific store under consideration. The experiences in Nîmes, Soissons, Portiragnes and Mées show that a single brand can accommodate different types of business venture.