Carrefour Brasil Restructures Aggressively, But 28-Store Closure Claim Is Unconfirmed
Brazil · Business
Key Facts
—123 stores closed. Carrefour Brasil permanently shut 123 stores in late 2023 as part of an asset-optimisation drive.
—Thousands of layoffs. The group cut an estimated 2,200 to 2,400 employees in late 2024, with further reductions tied to banner exits.
—B3 delisting approved. Shareholders voted on 25 April 2025 to take the company private, with the last trading day set for 30 May 2025.
—Banner rationalisation. The Nacional and Bompreço brands are being wound down or sold, with 65 stores reportedly up for sale.
—Misattributed claim. The widely shared figure of 28 store closures and 6,000 job cuts refers to Grupo Mateus, not Carrefour Brasil.
The Carrefour Brasil restructuring is real, painful and far-reaching, yet the specific claim that the French-owned giant is closing 28 stores and axing 6,000 jobs in one sweep is unconfirmed and almost certainly incorrect, belonging instead to a different Brazilian retailer.
Where the 28-store rumour actually comes from
In 2025 and early 2026, Grupo Mateus S.A., a major regional supermarket and cash-and-carry chain headquartered in Maranhão, publicly confirmed it had closed 28 stores and reduced its workforce by roughly 6,600 employees. The closures were concentrated across six states in Brazil’s North and Northeast, including Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, Ceará, Sergipe and Bahia, following an overly aggressive expansion that forced a strategic retreat.
Some secondary headlines and social media posts loosely described “the largest supermarket network in Brazil closing 28 stores and firing 6,000 workers,” a phrase that was then misattributed to Carrefour Brasil in click-driven content. No primary filing, major business daily or reputable wire service has ever linked Carrefour Brasil to exactly 28 store closures and 6,000 job cuts in a single programme.
The real scale of the Carrefour Brasil restructuring
The most dramatic single wave of closures occurred in late 2023, when Carrefour Brasil permanently shut 123 stores as part of an asset-optimisation initiative. The company disclosed the figure in its fourth-quarter 2023 results, noting that the closed stores had generated net sales of 352 million reais and EBITDA of 61 million reais during that period.
Chief financial officer Eric Alencar confirmed that 104 of those 123 closures had been completed by the end of January 2024. The group posted a net loss of 565 million reais in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with a profit of 426 million reais a year earlier, largely driven by expenses and non-cash impairments tied to the store shutdowns.
Banners disappearing: Nacional, Bompreço and hypermarkets
Beyond the 123-store closure, Carrefour is systematically retreating from traditional supermarket and hypermarket formats. The company decided to end the Nacional banner in Rio Grande do Sul after more than three decades, selling locations, converting units to Atacadão and Sam’s Club, and closing the remaining Nacional stores by the first half of 2025.
Carrefour is also negotiating the sale of all remaining Nacional and Bompreço stores, with 65 units reportedly up for sale, some including underlying real estate. In a parallel move, the group signed an agreement with Guardian Real Estate to sell 15 properties housing Atacadão stores for 725 million reais (approximately 125 million dollars at prevailing rates), with closing expected within the 2024 fiscal year.
Iconic hypermarkets have also been shuttered, including the Center Norte location in São Paulo, which closed on 21 December 2024 ahead of schedule, and two units in Campinas at Campinas Shopping and Parque Dom Pedro, which ceased operations on 30 August. In Rio Grande do Sul, hypermarkets in Novo Hamburgo and Santa Maria are slated to close in April 2026, affecting roughly 170 employees.
Workforce reductions: thousands affected, but no single 6,000-cut event
Carrefour Brasil has indeed cut thousands of jobs, but the reductions are spread across multiple waves rather than concentrated in one dramatic announcement. In December 2024, Valor International reported that the group was conducting workforce reductions affecting an estimated 2,200 to 2,400 employees across its retail and Atacadão operations, representing about 1.5 percent of the total workforce.
Additional layoffs have accompanied specific store closures and banner exits, though the company has not published a consolidated total of all job cuts tied to the restructuring. The 170 employees affected by the two Rio Grande do Sul hypermarket closures were offered transfers to other group stores, including Atacadão and Sam’s Club units in Greater Porto Alegre.
Going private: the corporate logic behind the Carrefour Brasil restructuring
On 11 February 2025, French parent Carrefour SA announced its intention to acquire all outstanding shares of its Brazilian subsidiary and delist the company from the B3 stock exchange in São Paulo. The offer of 7.3 reais per share represented a nearly 20 percent premium over the previous day’s closing price, valuing the transaction at approximately 5.3 billion reais (about 920 million dollars).
Shareholders approved the proposal on 25 April 2025, with 59 percent voting in favour, and the last trading day for Carrefour Brasil shares was set for 30 May 2025. The delisting allows the parent company to accelerate store closures, asset sales and format shifts without the quarterly scrutiny of public markets, while Carrefour SA has emphasised its long-term commitment to Brazil despite the painful restructuring.
What the Carrefour Brasil restructuring means for investors and expats
For investors, the restructuring signals a decisive pivot away from traditional hypermarkets and towards high-volume, low-margin cash-and-carry formats under the Atacadão brand and membership-club operations through Sam’s Club. In the twelve months leading up to the third quarter of 2024, Carrefour’s retail segment sales area shrank by 22 percent, yet gross sales in Brazil still grew 4.8 percent to 29.5 billion reais, confirming that growth is being driven by the leaner formats.
Expats and professionals living in Brazil should expect fewer Carrefour hypermarkets and Nacional supermarkets in their neighbourhoods, but a continued expansion of Atacadão outlets, which cater to both bulk-buying families and small businesses. The closure of the Barueri administrative complex from August 2026, with teams relocating to São Paulo city neighbourhoods such as Vila Maria and Tatuapé, also signals a centralisation of corporate functions that may affect white-collar employment in Greater São Paulo.
The broader lesson for anyone watching Brazilian retail is that the hypermarket model that dominated for decades is in structural decline, and even the country’s largest players are willing to absorb short-term losses to reposition for a future built on cash-and-carry and digital channels. Carrefour’s continued presence in the Northeast, contrary to viral rumours, underscores that the strategy is about format, not regional retreat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Carrefour Brasil really closing 28 stores and cutting 6,000 jobs?
No. That specific figure belongs to Grupo Mateus, a separate Brazilian retailer that closed 28 stores and reduced its workforce by about 6,600 employees in 2025 and early 2026. Carrefour Brasil has closed far more stores, including 123 in late 2023 alone, and has cut thousands of jobs across multiple waves, but the 28-store, 6,000-job claim is misattributed.
Why is Carrefour Brasil closing stores and laying off workers?
The group is executing a strategic pivot away from traditional hypermarkets and supermarkets towards cash-and-carry formats, primarily Atacadão, and membership clubs under the Sam’s Club brand. This involves closing underperforming stores, selling or winding down banners such as Nacional and Bompreço, and optimising its real estate portfolio to reduce costs and focus on higher-volume, lower-margin operations.
What does Carrefour Brasil’s delisting mean for minority shareholders?
Carrefour SA offered 7.3 reais per share to acquire the roughly one-third of Carrefour Brasil it did not already own, representing a nearly 20 percent premium at the time of the February 2025 announcement. Shareholders approved the proposal in April 2025, and the last trading day on the B3 exchange was 30 May 2025, after which the company became wholly owned by the French parent and ceased to be publicly listed in Brazil.
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