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France crowns its favourite store (but have you heard of it?)

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
France crowns its favourite store (but have you heard of it?)
Photo: AFP

The French have selected their favourite store and it's a supermarket that many readers might not have heard of, but our readers have voted it the best in France.

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France's 2018 store of choice is a supermarket known for selling regional products sold by local, independent businesses, in a market setting. 
 
This year, the title of France's favourite store went to Grand Frais, a French supermarket with 216 stores around the country, as it dethroned sporting goods retailer Decathlon in the annual ranking by consultancy firm OC&C. 
 
Decathlon dropped to second place followed by cultural goods shop Cultura, frozen foods store Picard and Fnac, a French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, making up the top five spots. 
 
Another supermarket that made the top ten was Leclerc which came 8th while Swedish furniture giant Ikea came tenth. 
 
And, according to OC&C, this year's survey highlights an interesting consumer trend. 
 
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Readers' tips: Which supermarket in France is the best to shop at?

"The e-commerce platforms are losing ground to more traditional brands, which have often...improved their value for money," David de Matteis, Managing Partner at OC&C Strategy told Le Figaro
 
Trust and closeness between the brand and the customer seems to have taken an important place in the 2018 ranking, he added.
 
This trend aligns with the Grand Frais strategy which spotlights local producers in a more traditional market setting. And it isn't only the French who have fallen for its charms. 
 
In fact, in a recent readers' tips feature by The Local, Grand Frais was selected as the best supermarket in France
 
Photo: Lionel Allorge/Wikicommons
 
Sarah Ashley who runs the Cooking in France Together group on Facebook said her favourite supermarket in France was "Grand Frais by a mile. It's a shame there aren't more of them.
 
"[It has] the freshest fruit and veg, more exotic choices and friendly, helpful staff. I love how they sell things you just don't get in other supermarkets, like beautiful chilies, almonds still in their green skin and veggies so exotic I have never heard of them before. It is always well stocked and sparkling clean."
 
Another fan of Grand Frais, Jiouxleigh Kos also highlighted the wide selection available there. 
 
"Grand Frais has the best selection of fresh and more exotic food," she said.
 
 
 
However, due to the fact that there are relatively few branches of Grand Frais, some of those who chose it as their favourite supermarket in France also pointed out that it was often somewhere they went as a treat or "to find something out of the ordinary". 
 
With just 216 Grand Frais supermarkets in France (and one in Belgium), there's some luck involved in whether there's one conveniently located near where you live (see map above). 
 
For those living in Paris, there is no Grand Frais in the French capital however there is one in Fresnes in the southern suburbs.

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[email protected] 2018/10/17 18:35
CORRECTION- I meant to type a "very small selection OF WINE.... " the food selection is totally international, and the cheese, butchery and exotic fruits are outstanding.... but nothing else.
[email protected] 2018/10/17 18:32
Grande Frais is great for food, but that's all, just food, with a very small selection and nothing else....

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