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After the organic association Biocoop, that has over 350 specialist wholefood stores, in terms of numbers La Vie Claire is in second place with 240 stores. In 2014, its growth in turnover came to 17 %, and the number of customers rose by 8.5 %. These positive figures confirm the management under Benoît Soury and Brunel Marmone and the owners of the company, the family of Régis Pelen, in their plan to continue the current investment strategy. The focus of investment is on opening its own stores in Paris and Lyons (Rhône-Alpes) but also on forging ahead with new franchise stores in the other regions of France, including its overseas territories. Of the 240 stores, three-quarters have been launched with franchise partners.
In 1948, the first La Vie Claire health food store was established in Paris, and by 1965 the number of stores had risen to 94. In 1996, Régis Pelen and the Distriborg Group joined the business. Later, in 2000, Pelen dispensed with Distriborg but retained the health food chain. 2011 marks another significant point in the company’s history: at the company headquarters in Montagny near Lyons a new building for the administration and storage was built. It covers 14,400 m², is a low-energy facility and has a 6,400 m² photovoltaic array on the roof.
entry level brand products
In the first quarter of 2015 no fewer than seven stores have been opened under the banner of La Vie Claire. Three are in greater Paris; the most recent location in Levallois Perret, north-west of the centre, has a typical retail area of 250 m². The store is in the centre of the district and within easy reach for customers. In contrast to other organic supermarket chains, that prefer large-scale stores in business parks, La Vie Claire positions its outlets mainly in downtown locations. The retail area varies between 80 and 300 m², and it has been looking recently for central premises with 200 to 300 m² that are, however, difficult to find.
In the middle of February and at the beginning of March 2015 two further stores were launched in central locations in Ile de France. Four franchise stores were opened in other regions of France, one of which was on Corsica. Of the 240 stores, 56 are operated by the company itself and 184 has been set up by franchise partners. Interesting projects are currently being prepared for launch in the capital of French Guyana, Cayenne, in Beirut (Lebanon) and in Phnom Penh (Cambodia). Picture 4: Special offers of products from France
About a quarter of the 6,000 articles in the stores are sold under the La Vie Claire own brand, which means that the company has the highest proportion of own brand lines in France. Numerically, it is comparable to Alnatura in Germany (ca. 1,100 own brand articles). What is different from Alnatura is the fact that La Vie Claire does not focus on price but exclusively on quality. According to the employees in one of the stores in Lyons, the prices are not significantly different from those of manufacturers’ brands. Every month new products appear in the stores, amounting to several hundred a year. A changing product range, that includes basic food items, is offered at the entry price level - “Les petits prix bio” that covers a total of 60 lines.
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Tags: organic , wholefood store , organic food
