International News - Carrefour goes local with Japan openings

French retailer Carrefour is to open three stores in Japan this month, designed to appeal more to the local market.

Carrefour entered Japan in December 2000 and opened its fifth shop near Osaka last week.

The retailer has struggled in Japan to date. There have been wrangles with suppliers and too few customers.

Carrefour hopes to rectify the situation with a new-style product mix.

There will be greater focus on French and European products, rather than standard low-priced Japanese lines.

Japan is the world's second biggest retail market, but is extremely competitive.

Unlike Wal-Mart and Tesco, which both entered Japan by acquisition, Carrefour has chosen to grow organically.

Separately, Carrefour is to expand in South Korea and has earmarked US$800 million (£478.6 million) for investment over the next four years. Carrefour is the number four player in South Korea, behind E-Mart, Tesco and Magnet.