Bellegarde
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 Bellegarde HQ in Aumiers | |
| Company type | Private, employee-owned |
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| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | July 14, 1891 Esserie, Maresia, Cartadania |
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| Headquarters | Aumiers, Cartadania |
Number of locations | 1,203 |
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| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, fuel, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks |
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Number of employees | 185,000 (2019) |
| Website | www |
Bellegarde Supermarché SA, commonly referred to as just Bellegarde, is a Cartadanian supermarket chain that is headquartered in the city of Aumiers, Maresia. The company was established in 1891 by Lucas Beaufils and Laurent Barreau and it is currently a private corporation that is fully owned by its present and past employees, as well as members of the founders' families. Bellegarde has a vast presence throughout eastern and central Cartadania, with 431 locations in Maresia, 211 in Aleira, 115 in Acara, 103 in Triessa, 81 in São Ricardo, 80 in Alexandria, 79 in Verona, 55 in São Andreas, 51 in Cascália, and 4 in Alahuela. As an employee-owned company, Bellegarde's corporate structure and decision-making processes are centered around the welfare and best interests of its workers. The company is committed to providing high-quality products and services to its customers at competitive prices while also creating a sustainable and socially responsible business model.
History
Origins
The company was founded by Lucas Beaufils and Laurent Barreau, who opened their first grocery store in what is now Aumiers, Maresia. At the time, the store was a small, family-run business that specialized in providing high-quality, locally-sourced produce to the local community, which was an unincorporated region of Marée Parish with an address in the nearby town of Esserie (hence its founding being in that locality). Its popularity amongst the people in Esserie saw the expansion of an additional store in 1903. Particularly during the Great War, when Urlazio was a place of contention, Beaufils and Barreau left the store operations to their employees, as they had gone off to war further east. Upon their return, the stores had generated such a success that the store remained as a family brand with employee ownership.
As access to highways and other transportation helped connect regions, Bellegarde began to expand throughout Maresia, each location getting produce from the local community. Over the years, Bellegarde grew in popularity and expanded its offerings to include a wider range of grocery items, such as meats, dairy products, and baked goods. The company's commitment to providing fresh, high-quality products remained a top priority, however, and this dedication to quality quickly made Bellegarde a favorite among shoppers throughout the region.
Expansion
In the early 1900s, Bellegarde continued to expand its grocery chain by opening new locations throughout eastern Cartadania. The company's growth was impressive, and by the 1920s, it had become one of the largest grocery store chains in the region, with locations in Maresia, Aleira, Acara, Triessa, and Cascália. Following the resolution of the Second Great War, the company expanded into São Andreas.
Starting in 1961, Bellegarde began its westward expansion, crossing the Marée Channel into São Ricardo, the first expansion into Lusia. The company continued to expand, and in the early 2000s, it reached Alexandria, becoming the first non-supercenter to have a presence in Urlazio and Lusia. In 1993, Verona opened its first eleven Bellegarde stores, with the number of locations continuing to grow into the new millennium, reaching nearly eighty.
In 2004, Bellegarde crossed the border into Caphiria, opening its first stores in the country under the Bellegarde Est brand in the provinces of Canterra and Narico. Bellegarde Est, much like its parent company, places an emphasis on locally-sourced goods. In 2017, Bellegarde introduced its specialty brand, Bourseiller, a gourmet grocery store chain based in Esserie. Most Bourseiller locations have a full-service kitchen, offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and offer catering services. Bourseiller deliberately limits floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products, and chef-prepared items.
Bellegarde Est has developed a unique quality within the chain, sourcing dishes from across the imperium to introduce new foods to locals in Urlazio. Additionally, Bellegarde has experimented with new concepts in its stores, such as the self-checkout model used by the Esquerda marque, which has become a popular convenience for shoppers. Bellegarde continues to expand and innovate, seeking to meet the evolving needs of its customers.
Potential further expansion
Throughout its history, Bellegarde has remained committed to its core values of quality, freshness, and community. Today, the company is still owned by its employees and the families of its founders, and continues to be a trusted and beloved supermarket chain throughout Cartadania and beyond. Bellegarde has consistently worked to improve its existing locations, while also expressing an interest in expanding its operations into the other states of the Lusia region, including Santiago, Trentino, and Victoria, though the former may see the launch of another subsidiary to cater to Santiago's more suburban and periurban communities in the state's south.
In 2034, Bellegarde is set to open its first three locations in the state of Tanoa, which marks a significant expansion beyond its current geographical footprint. However, the company has not announced any further expansion plans beyond the Lusia region and the Bellegarde markets in Porta Bianca continue to be the only locations west of the Trentino River.
Brands and operations
Alvo
Alvo is a subsidiary that, unlike its parent company, focuses exclusively on grocery items and is usually located in areas with limited space, such as university campuses. Initially, Alvo was known as a discount grocer but in 2010, Bellegarde standardized prices across its various brands, including Alvo, Bellegarde, Bellegarde Est, and Esquerda. As a result, Alvo lost its discount grocer status. Nevertheless, Alvo remains a popular choice among health-conscious individuals due to its emphasis on locally-sourced produce.
In more recent years, Alvo's grocery selection has been expanded to include increasing varieties of foods and items that require more preparation, such as seafood or cuts of beef, pork, and lamb. In doing so, the brand has evolved to be a lot closer to the traditional Bellegarde stores, albeit, still lacking items outside of grocery.
Bellegarde Est
Bellegarde Est is a regional variation of the Bellegarde supermarket chain that caters to the seven Urlazio Caphirian provinces of Canterra, Cesindes, Iscasta, Ovetta, Netharra, Narico, and Salbis. It operates under the same principles as the other Bellegarde brands but offers a unique feature where the store showcases and offers samples of dishes from a random province across the imperium to customers on certain days, typically Saturdays. The intention behind this initiative is to expand the palates of Caphirians living in east Urlazio and create a more memorable experience for shoppers in the store.
The Bellegarde Est stores prioritize sourcing local and regional produce, similar to other Bellegarde brands, with an emphasis on providing fresh and high-quality produce to its customers. In addition to this, the store offers a wide range of grocery items, including dairy, meat, bakery, and packaged goods. Bellegarde Est also features a pharmacy and a health and wellness section. The store's layout is designed to maximize space and provide a convenient and hassle-free shopping experience for its customers.
A similar feature to the province-specific dish sampling in Bellegarde Est is being tested in standard Bellegarde stores in Maresia, with the goal of enhancing the shopping experience for customers and introducing them to new and exciting culinary experiences from different regions.
Bourseiller
Bourseiller is a premium grocery store chain which operates as a subsidiary of Bellegarde, and is headquartered in Esserie. Bourseiller is a gourmet grocery store chain that emphasizes on fresh and organic products, and it differentiates itself from other grocery store chains by limiting the amount of floor space allocated to packaged products, allowing more space for fresh produce, meat and seafood, bulk products, and chef-prepared items. This store chain prides itself on offering high-quality products, which is why most locations have a full-service kitchen, and offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and catering services. Bourseiller is known for its premium offerings and is catered to the tastes of the upper-income demographic. The chain has a total of thirty-nine locations, with twenty-two in Maresia, six in Triessa, four in Ovetta, four in Narico, and three in Canterra.
Esquerda
Esquerda is a brand under the Bellegarde umbrella that is tailored specifically to meet the needs of consumers in western Alexandria. Esquerda stores prioritize convenience and are characterized by their unique self-checkout model, which is complemented by traditional registers and cashiers. Additionally, customers can utilize specialized produce scales that generate barcodes for food items, and there are ready-to-eat sections located at the front of the store. The store layout has been modified to position frequently purchased items near the front of the store for easy accessibility. As Bellegarde has incorporated many of these services across its other brands, there have been discussions about possibly converting Esquerda stores into Bellegarde stores.