Guillaume Sénéclauze, appointed chief executive of Monoprix last May, believes that one of France’s longest-standing retailers has a promising future in store. Stephen Wynne-Jones met him. This article first appeared in ESM March/April 2023.
It has been dubbed the ‘grand dame’ of French retail, and there’s no doubt that Monoprix has embedded itself into the public consciousness in the nine decades since it its foundation in Rouen, in 1932.
Owned outright by Groupe Casino since 2013 – building on its acquisition of 50% of the business from Galeries Lafayette in 2000 – the Clichy-based operator is as renowned for its fashion, home and beauty products as it is for its food – ‘making the beautiful and the good accessible to all,’ as a mission statement on the retailer’s website puts it.
