Carrefour waits for protests to reach a climax

Carrefour is preparing for protests outside its stores to reach a climax on May 1, which is meant to be the first day of a nationwide boycott of the French retailer’s goods, the Financial Times reported. Chinese nationalists claim Carrefour supported the Dalai Lama and, as a result, the company has become a focal point for Chinese anger at the disruption of the Olympic torch relay by Western protestors. Jacques Beauchet, Carrefour’s director of human resources, said on Tuesday that 10-15 of the company’s 112 stores in China had been directly affected by demonstrations in the last 10 days or so. He added that it was too early to estimate the impact of the demonstrations on sales. Carrefour recorded sales of US$4.6 billion in China last year. Other French companies, including luxury goods group LVMH, are lowering their profiles in China for fear of becoming targets of demonstrations.