Hypermarket service station road maps - France & Europe
Leclerc, Euromarché, Intermarché and Système U

Brief History

Supermarkets have grown vastly in size and the range of goods carried over the last 50 years, so it is no surprise that some have started to sell petrol too. The European pioneers were in France in the mid-1960s, when the French Government imposed strict limits on the amount of refined petroleum products that could be imported. This kept prices high, and supermarkets realised that with their devolved corporate structures, they would be able to import fuel that the oil companies could not. Starting in Eastern France, nearer the main refining centres in Benelux and Germany firms such as Suma and Gro opened cheap filling stations in the parking lots of their largest stores. Over the next 20 years French hypermarkets captured almost half the retail market, forcing many thousand independent service stations into bankruptcy.
Supermarkets also started to gain market share in Belgium and Britain and, in the 1980s, West Germany. The largest Belgian operators were GB and Delhaize, but in the late 70s they sold their operations to Shell and Mobil respectively. In contrast, in Britain the main firms initially sold branded petrol, but this has now largely been replaced by own-brand fuel sold from top quality outlets.

Across in France the supermarkets continued to develop their networks, with much of the running being made by E. Leclerc and the loose association of companies using the Intermarché name. Other leading chains with petrol included Casino (which sold some sites to Shell & Agip), Continent/Champion, Rallye, STOC, ATAC, and Système U. The true hypermarkets with very large stores including Carrefour (which has owned Continent since 1999), Cora and Auchan (which owns ATAC) continue to sell own-brand fuel from increasingly sophisticated service stations. The Leclerc map (right) is undated but from about 1991. It locates all stores, but by now Recta-Foldex was responsible for the cartography. The text at the top translates roughly as "The easiest way to travel farther is always to pay less for petrol".

Maps

E. Leclerc

E. Leclerc is a major operator of medium sized hypermarkets in France. Its first petrol stations were built at the end of the 1960s (and initially operated by a cousin of the main supermarket chain owner). Today there are over 470 service stations and the firm ranks (along with Carrefour and Intermarché in France and Tesco in Britain) as one of the top 20 brands of petrol in Europe. Leclerc continued their expansion into fuel retailing by buying some of TotalFinaElf's former motorway sites in early 2001.

The first edition of the map shown above dates from 1976 and the one shown from 1984 - it is hard to tell which panel forms the front cover! This map locates all Leclerc stores and petrol stations (which can occasionally be remote from the stores) on a map at 1:1,100,000 produced by Gallardi.

Intermarché started in 1969 when some 95 stores split from Leclerc. Organised in a relatively loose federal structure, Intermarché grew rapidly and absorbed numerous smaller chains, such as the Normandie Co-op. By the mid-1970s stores were beginning to add petrol sales, sometimes weakly branded in the name of an affiliate, STM Services. Before long though, the Intermarché name was brought to the fore and its distinctive hexagonal sign became familiar to motorists as the nation's leading vendor of cheap petrol.

By 1999, when the map shown here was issued, Intermarché had 1,650 stores across France, of which 1,392 sold petrol. It was prepared by IGN at the scale of 1:1,200,000 as part of the annual Bison Futé scheme to promote the use of alternative routes on holiday weekends. Unlike most other sponsored versions of the Bison Futé map, it carries plentiful advertising for Intermarché and both lists and marks all their stores on the map itself (although it does not distinguish between those locations with and without petrol). One other unusual feature is an inset showing the path of the 1999 total eclipse of the sun, with a warning in three languages to motorists "not to let this phenomenon take you by surprise". The front cover was not printed; instead an 8-page booklet was pasted to it and - as can be seen in the picture - it was stuck on at a slight angle!

Intermarché's 2005 map is more conventional, being prepared for them by Bottin at a scale of 1:1,700,000. All the supermarkets are marked by a small hexagon (in red for Intermarché and in blue for the smaller Écomarché stores). The reverse side lists the addresses of all stores, and indicates which ones sell petrol identifying those open 24 hours. In all there were 1,344 petrol forecourts, of which 77 were attached to Écomarché stores. The map also carries 10 panels of advertising, mainly for food products.

Euromarché Euromarché were a relatively early operator of true hypermarkets. As such they were relatively few and far between with this 1976 Michelin map marking just a couple of dozen locations. A series of inset plans showed the exact location of each outlet - almost all sold petrol. Euromarché was absent from SE France as it worked in partnership with Provencia in that area. Fuel at some of the earliest hypermarkets was weakly branded "MASA", and by 1990 some Euromarché sites were selling major brands such as BP. In 1991 the chain was bought by Carrefour, the market leader in hypermarkets. Image courtesy of Etienne Houdoy

Système U

Système U is the co-ordinating body for around 800 independent stores operated under the Hyper U, Super U and Marché U names. Although no national maps are known, the store in La Trinité sur Mer (in Brittany) was the sole sponsor of the map shown here around 1990. No other advertising is carried, and the map states that it was offered by Supermarché Système U.

However this is not a true petrol map, as the Système U was just a store on the main square. To prove that Système U can also be a petrol brand, I have included a 1995 photo of the filling station attached to the Super U at Mortagne au Perche. Système U's website includes an interactive map (based on the excellent Michelin maps) enabling you to find the route to your nearest store - and indicating whether they sell petrol. Ironically, Système U no longer have a store at all in La Trinité sur Mer.

Others

Some supermarkets themselves have issued maps, and in 2002 the Casino chain gave away this map (right) showing its Cafétérias in France. Gallardi first created the title in 1999, which by 2002 listed 219 restaurants, mainly at Casino or the larger Géant stores, most of which have attached filling stations. In 2001, Champion supermarkets had given away a map marking the route of the Tour de France, as well as their own supermarkets. No maps are known from other continental European supermarket petrol station chains. But, as always, if you have one, then please let me know!

Among stores without affiliated petrol station chains, the German firm Lidl issued a set of maps sold through its stores in the early 1990s and the Danish discounter Netto sold a branded road atlas of Britain through its English stores.