Auchan Polska Sp. z o.o. history

Another success story was the company's acquisition of DIY and home decoration chain Leroy Merlin, founded in 1923.

At first a manufacturer of textiles, Phildar turned to the retail sector in 1946, when it trademarked the company name and began to develop its Phildar brand name of textiles and knitting and sewing supplies.

The company turned toward franchising to expand its distribution network, licensing the first Phildar franchise store in 1956.

It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by Mulliez Family, which has 95% stake in the company.

In the summer of 1967, Auchan got its first hypermarket.

On March 27 , 1969 was opened the Englos-les-Géants shopping center at Englos in the Lille metropolis.

In 1977, Auchan began to extend its network of hypermarkets across the country.

Another retail concept, launched by Patrick Mulliez in 1978, was the discount clothing chain Kiabi, which grew to a fashion giant, posting FFr 7.8 billion in sales through more than 170 stores across Europe.

1981: First international store opens in Spain.

Meanwhile, the company was enjoying huge success with its Decathlon sporting goods chain, created by family member Michel Leclerc, restaurant group Flunch, and then the electronics and home appliance chain Boulanger, acquired in 1986.

The first American Auchan (pronounced by Houstonians as “o-shawn”) store opened in western Houston on October 14, 1988.

1989: First store in Italy is opened, and a hypermarket in Houston, Texas, opens for business.

In 1991 the store closed. It was later bought by a local Chicago supermarket chain, Dominick's, and converted into an Omni Superstore by 1991.

Gerard Mulliez retired from day-to-day control of the empire he had founded in 1996.

Auchan opened a number of stores in Mexico; the first of these opened in Mexico City in 1997 and eventually grew to five stores.

Auchan opened its first store in Shanghai in 1999.

Auchan's second Greater Houston location opened in southeast Houston in September 2000, in a former Target store, which Auchan heavily renovated (and partially built up on) prior to opening, the most obvious example being the entrances, designed to make it look huge, despite its past as a Target.

After meeting the founders of the Carrefour and Leclerc, on July 6, 1961, Gérard Mulliez opens the first Auchan store in a disused factory of the company Phildar , founded by his father, also named Gerard. It was bought by the Intermarché. The building was demolished to make way for a more modern store in 2003.

In 2007 Auchan sold its Argentine stores to Wal-Mart and withdrew from the country.

Suzhou store expanded in 2008 and is the biggest Auchan Hypermarket in China, the second biggest in the world.

Auchan offers online shopping only in those two cities so far and is opening in Suzhou its first AuchanDrive store, based on its French model (click & go) in May 2012.

Revenues for the country reached $5 billion in 2014, ranking third behind the local retailers X5 Retail Group and Magnit.

In 2016 it was ranked first in a list of the largest foreign-owned companies by the Russian edition of Forbes.