U Express Supermarket Chain Expands in Morocco with Four New Locations

These four new points of sale will thus complement those of Rabat Ryad Square, and Casablanca Ibn Tachfine, reports Challenge, specifying that the French chain of neighborhood supermarkets will expand to Dar Bouazza, Salé, as well as in the city centers of the two administrative and economic capitals of the country. This extension is still far from the objective of Africa Retail Market (the Moroccan franchisee of the Système U brand), which plans to open a dozen supermarkets by the end of 2020, aware that the point of operational balance can only be reached with at least 50, or even 100 points of sale.

So far, the French operator, which has as competitors the four major players who control the GMS (Large and Medium Surface) market in Morocco, wanted to test its "new generation supermarket chain" model which stands out for the freshness of the products (especially fruits and vegetables) and the wealth of references, to the delight of the Moroccan consumer, constantly accompanied by the shareholders, despite the hasty departure a short time ago of SBM (ex-Brasseries du Maroc) from the Moroccan adventure after being one of the promoters with 33% of the capital.

For the record, the U cooperative group (which includes the Hyper U, Système U, U Express, Utile and Courses U brands) holds 11% of the food distribution market in France.