France Country of Honour at MAPIC 2010

PARIS, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The French retail and retail real estate sectors will take centre stage at MAPIC 2010 where France has been chosen as Country of Honour. As part of the celebrations, the MAPIC Awards will include an inaugural prize to a French executive for an outstanding contribution to the retail or retail real estate industries in 2010.

"France represents the largest national delegation at MAPIC and French companies have been loyal supporter of the event since its launch. Due to the quality of their projects and the dynamism of their professionals, especially on the international stage, we want to honour the expertise and know-how of French decision-makers. The participation of Christine Lagarde, French Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment, at the opening ceremony of MAPIC 2010, will be one of the highlights of this programme. The Minister's presence is an indication of her support for the French retail and real estate industries which have been particularly resilient during this crisis when compared to their international counterparts," says Nathalie Depetro, Director of MAPIC.

Carrefour Property, a key player and successful exporter, highlights the value of this unique event for the French market: "We are very happy to attend MAPIC for the third consecutive year. It is still the key reference in the world of international real estate. With France as Country of Honour this year, we have a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate the vitality of Groupe Carrefour, from its reinvented hypermarkets to our new concepts of convenience stores and our real estate capacity to promote them in France and abroad," says Pascal Duhamel, CEO of Carrefour Property.

The French retail sector is currently demonstrating its capacity to innovate and reinvent itself to meet new consumer expectations. Major retail groups are making an effort to radically change the way their customers perceive their hyper/supermarkets. MAPIC 2010 will provide a unique opportunity for exploring new strategies based on convenience stores and local services with the presence of Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, and Monoprix with its Daily Monop' concept.

In the same vein, more and more French companies attending MAPIC 2010 are rehabbing the design of their sales outlets. One example is SFR, which has been testing a new concept of customer workshops for introducing new products in its Champs-Elysees boutique. Other examples include the Happy brand, part of Monceau Fleurs, that has recently hired the well-known designer Ora-Ito to modernize its kiosks, and the leather goods brindle Le Tanneur, which is redesigning its stores around emotional and relationship-building values.

French shopping centre developers are also upgrading the commercial appeal of their market, particularly for foreign retailers, by offering a broad, diversified range of retail sites. At MAPIC 2010, delegates will be able to learn more about these projects at stands featuring such major developers as Altarea Cogedim, Apsys, Klepierre Segece, Immobiliere Frey, Immochan and Vinci Immobilier.

As part of its comprehensive coverage of the market, MAPIC will also focus on French towns and cities. French local authorities are implementing particularly active business development policies that raise their visibility at MAPIC each year. For example, Poitiers and Calais will be exhibiting this year, along with Greater Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Dunkirk, Nantes, Mulhouse and Reims. MAPIC's opening night tribute to France will highlight these various development policies.

Finally, the MAPIC conference programme features French speakers including Alain Harfouche, CEO of L'Occitane en Provence in Spain and Maxime Holder, Chairman and CEO of the bakery chain Paul, who will share their experience and understanding of the French market.

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