Goodbye Coles. Bonjour Carrefour?

Rewind to September 2005. Remember the news story of the Danish cartoons satirising the Prophet Mohammed? The cartoons were published in Aarhus, Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten before running worldwide.

By way of reply to the Danish media’s exercise of its right to free speech, the Islamic world erupted in violence. Property was destroyed and death threats (known as fatwas among the faithful) were issued to the “infidels” who commissioned, illustrated and published the cartoons. Most are still in hiding.

Two aspects of that tumultuous event were broadly ignored by the Australian media. First, in order to find favour with Islamic adherents, Carrefour publicly took all Danish foodstuffs off its shelves worldwide and erected massive signs storewide to attest to their love of Islam (and presumably contempt for Christian values).

Second, an email campaign was started in Belgium by concerned Christians for a boycott of Carrefour. The reason for this call: Carrefour’s ethnic cleansing of its shelves of Danish goods and the ensuing economic havoc created in the Kingdom of Denmark.

Carrefour’s shameless lust for Islamic patronage (at the price of Western principles including that of free speech) is not Carrefour’s only sin.

The firm has been criticised for the treatment of its workers throughout the world. For example, in Doha, Qatar, it employs workers from undeveloped nations, such as the Philippines, and houses the workers, usually six to an apartment, sharing one kitchen and one bathroom. Carrefour retains their passports and imposes a curfew at night, with a guard at the gate to apprehend violators.

Employees work six days a week, and minimal health insurance is provided; anything more than a basic check-up is not covered. At the standard pay scale of about 1,600 Qatari Riyals a month (approximately A$530) a medical emergency could easily wipe out two months earnings. At Doha's City Centre Mall, workers scheduled to work from 5pm to midnight, are then be expected back, bright eyed and bushy tailed, the next day at 7am.

Also, the workers are allowed a one-hour break, but managers will schedule their break as early as two hours into the shift, meaning they will have to eat "lunch" as early as 10am and work non-stop for the following six hours. Employees are not allowed private vehicles, so they must rely on the company shuttle bus. The worst criticism relates to Carrefour's "sub-contractor" sweatshops in Haiti, where workers earn as little as US$0.60 a day and no more than US$3.00.

Of course if Carrefour comes to Australia those practices will not be repeated. But that’s not the point. The point is: should we entertain a bid from a corporate citizen like Carrefour? All things considered, I think so. Here’s why.

Carrefour will bring competition. And that in itself is fantastic. Just like Sir Richard Branson redrew aviation retail behaviour, so too will Carrefour shake up the cosy monopolistic supermarket incumbents.

Carrefour specialises in hypermarkets, which is a superstore combining a supermarket and a department store. Think Fresh Food People meets K-Mart. then up the quality several notches. The result is a gigantic retail facility which carries an enormous range of products under one roof, including full lines of groceries and general merchandise.

When they are planned, constructed, and executed correctly, a consumer can ideally satisfy all of his or her routine weekly shopping needs in one trip to the hypermarket. And all sold at great prices. Great for Carrefour. Great for the consumer. Aside from hypermarkets, the retailer also runs supermarkets, major discount stores, convenience and cash ‘n’ carry shops.