It’s fair to say HyperMax is edging out Carrefour in parts of the Middle East, but it’s not a total swap everywhere. Majid Al Futtaim, the company that has been running Carrefour across the region for years, has started rolling out HyperMax as its own homegrown brand. In a few places, that has already meant shutting down Carrefour entirely.
Take Jordan, Oman, Bahrain, and most recently Kuwait. Carrefour has packed up, and HyperMax has moved in almost overnight. In Bahrain, for example, people saw Carrefour close and HyperMax open right after, with a similar lineup of stores. The number of HyperMax locations across these switched markets is sitting at around 60 now. So, in those countries, Carrefour is basically out of the picture.
The UAE is different. Carrefour is still around, and Majid Al Futtaim has said they’re not replacing it there, at least not right now. Whether that stays the case long-term is anyone’s guess, but for the moment, shoppers in Dubai or Abu Dhabi aren’t seeing HyperMax signs over their hypermarkets.
As for why this is happening, a few things stand out. HyperMax gives Majid Al Futtaim more control. Instead of working under the Carrefour brand and its global framework, they can shape HyperMax however they want. They are also pushing the idea of local produce and local suppliers, which taps into food security priorities and the growing demand for “made here” goods. Some observers also think boycotts and regional politics may have nudged Carrefour’s exit in places like Jordan, though that was not officially confirmed.
So, is HyperMax replacing Carrefour in the Middle East? In certain countries, yes Carrefour is gone and HyperMax is in. In others, especially the UAE, Carrefour is still very much alive. It looks less like a clean break and more like a gradual rebranding experiment, with different timelines depending on the market.
