United States
Auchan did business in the United States from 1988 to 2003 as Auchan Hypermarket under its subsidiary, Auchan USA,[47] who was the successor of interest to Texfield Inc.[48] By the time of its closing it was the only French hypermarket chain to still operate American stores, as other hypermarket chains, such as Carrefour and E.Leclerc (under the guise of Leedmark) gave up in the United States market around 1993–1994.[49]
The first American Auchan (pronounced by Houstonians as "o-shawn") store opened in western Houston on 14 October 1988.[50] The 250000 sqft hypermarket was located on a 31.3 acre plot of land on Beltway 8, north of U.S. Route 59/Interstate 69. The store was one of many hypermarkets to open in the U.S in the late 80's, after Walmart debuted Hypermart USA in December 1987, and Carrefour's Philadelphia store debuted in March 1988.[47] David Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle said "it was fairly unusual and became something of a tourist attraction" when it had first opened, as it was big enough to house many small businesses in front, such as a travel agency, a jewelry store, a bank, and a food court containing a Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut. It also featured a huge cheese selection, a huge beer and wine selection, featuring local breweries such as Celis White, a bakery, a large seafood selection and rodeo wear.[51]
Auchan also opened a store in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois, in 1989.[52] It only sold food, and it was not as large as the Houston store. In 1991 the store closed.[51] It was later bought by a local Chicago supermarket chain, Dominick's, and converted into an Omni Superstore by 1991.
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.[50] Kaplan said, "Auchan had solid business its first years, but with only two stores in the country, the company lacked buying power and economy-of-scale advantages."[51] In early January 2003 Auchan announced that both of its U.S. stores were making losses and were going to be closed; Auchan stated that it was instead going to concentrate its expansion in Asia and Europe, and on 6 January 2003, Auchan closed the two money-losing stores, ending all American operations after 15 years.[50] Auchan USA sold its first Houston location to Ho Enterprises. Lewis Food Town occupied about 110000 sqft of the space, with the rest of the space taken by other tenants, which makes the store a bit like a mini-mall today.[47] Kaplan said that by 2003, "the Houston market is saturated with huge discounters and large grocery stores."[51] In addition, many similar stores, including an H-E-B
