A new branch of Carrefour, the French/Turkish supermarket chain, opened its doors in the new bus station complex for the first time on Friday. Fethiye Times joined the crowds to see the new shop and talk to Carrefour’s Operations Manager.

{mosimage}An eager crowd gathered from 9:30 am waiting for the planned 10:00 am opening of Fethiye’s latest supermarket to grab a first day offer. A display of Turkish dancing and other entertainment, including the obligatory loud music, were staged to keep the growing crowds entertained. However, by 9:45 the crowd had grown so big that the doors were opened early.

We waited for the queues to die down before we ventured in for our first look. Despite the wait the shop was in virtual gridlock with the eager shoppers by the time we got in. We managed to negotiate our way around the familiar Carrefour store layout to where we met Jerome Bonzi, Carrefour Group Turkey’s Operational Director.

We also asked if the new shop would mean the closure of the popular down town central store. “Absolutely not” he said. “Fethiye is a growing town and our new store will serve the growing needs of the town and compliment the down town store whilst providing easier access for some customers”.

{mosimage}We asked Jerome if Carrefour would be carrying more products that are familiar to the Ex-pat here in Fethiye. He said that he is keen to provide a wider range of products for the Ex-pat’s but, he added, that it is unlikely that we will see a wide range of familiar British or even French brands on sale because of the huge costs of getting Turkish approval for imported food and non food items.  

The new store is the 102nd to be opened by the group making them one of the largest supermarket chains in Turkey. The store is branded as an ‘Express’ store as it carries a smaller range of goods than the hypermarket version.

The new Carrefour Express is located in the new bus station complex in central Fethiye and is open between 8am and 11pm – 7 days a week.