Auchan Logo PNG
From the emblem, home and bright emotions flow. The Auchan logo embodies novelty, hot offers, and a variety of flavors. It conveys care and protection of the buyer’s interests. Everything that the client needs will be delivered quickly, as if on the wings of a bird.
Auchan was founded in 1961 in Roubaix by Gerard Mulliez, a member of the Phildar textile family. After visiting the United States, studying large self-service stores, and being influenced by Edouard Leclerc, he opened a 600 m² grocery shop on July 6, 1961. The name came from the Hauts-Champs district and was adjusted for directory indexing.
The first store struggled and closed, but with family support, Mulliez continued. On August 20, 1967, a 3,500 m² hypermarket opened in Roncq, combining food and non-food goods. Around the same period, Carrefour developed a comparable format. In 1969, Englos-les-Géants introduced a retail park model in France.
In 1977, Auchan introduced employee share ownership, giving staff equity participation. National expansion accelerated, while the Mulliez family gained control of Leroy Merlin, completing the process by 1981 and building a large DIY network. International expansion began in 1981 with the launch of Alcampo in Spain. In 1989, stores opened in Italy and a single location in Houston. In 1996, Auchan acquired Docks de France and expanded into Portugal and Eastern Europe, including Poland and Hungary, and later into China and Taiwan.
In 1996, Mulliez stepped back from operational management, with Christophe Dubrule taking over leadership. The company continued to grow through acquisitions and new markets. In November 2018, Auchan acquired 91 Real hypermarkets from Metro AG across several countries. In 2023, it purchased Dia operations in Portugal. After 2022, Auchan maintained operations in Russia, leading to its designation by Ukrainian authorities as an international sponsor of war, a claim the company denied.
Meaning and History
After meeting with the retail chain owners, Carrefour and Leclerc, second-generation businessman Gerard Mulliez decided to become a major retailer and set up his store with a similar operating model. After some thought and preparation, he opened it in the Phildar building – at his father’s former factory in the Hauts-Champs area of Roubaix. It covered 600 square meters. However, later (in the 1980s), the commercial outlet had to close due to intense competition.
In the summer of 1967, Auchan got its first hypermarket. It was located in Roncq and covered 3,500 square meters. The company founded its first shopping center in Englos, in the Lille metropolitan area.
The company gradually expanded throughout France and even across Europe. Today, its stores are located in many countries worldwide. These include Portugal, China, Hungary, Spain, Poland, Tajikistan, Italy, the UAE, Russia, Ukraine, Luxembourg, and Romania.
The exception is the United States, where the Auchan chain has failed to compete. In early 2003, she announced the closure of two stores due to declining profits. On January 6, both points were closed simultaneously, and after 15 years, the French company curtailed all trading activities in the United States, focusing on Europe and Asia.
The name Auchan, which later became the basis for the corporate logo, did not appear immediately. The first store was named Ochan. But because it sounded Japanese, it was changed to the current version. The founder wanted to use “A” instead of “O” because it is the first letter of the alphabet and starts the list in any directory. Throughout its existence, the holding had four emblems.
What is Auchan?
Auchan is a large French retailer with a presence in more than ten countries under different names, such as RT-Mart in China and Alcampo in Spain. Its stores sell household goods, food, clothing, electronics, cosmetics, and more. Customers can also access travel and banking services. Founded in 1961, the company is a holding company with several divisions: Oney, Auchan Retail International, and Ceetrus.
1961 – 1983
The debut logo featured a large “A” in a circle. It was outlined so that the top of the letter and the bar’s protruding ends were cut off. This hints that the store surpasses expectations and is larger than any framework. The icon’s edges are blue; the letter is red, and the background is white. On the right is the retail chain’s full name in uppercase. The word is designed in a grotesque style – it is smooth, smooth, and therefore easy to read.
1983 – 2015
During this period, a radically different emblem appeared. It depicts a red-and-green bird with a long tail that replaces the center bar “A.” The rest of the letters are lowercase, bold, and printed in the classic spelling. The feathered one is a robin. Its task is to show the store’s closeness to customers and its love for them.
2015 – today
In 2015, the artists changed the robin’s painting style: they made it cuter, more beautiful, and more welcoming. She still stands in front of “A,” replacing the crossbar, but her body has become elongated, with smooth transitions of lines. The ebird’s eyes, beak, legs, and tail are green; the rest of the plumage is red, like the inscription. The letters are tall and bold, and the lowercase “a” is spelled differently altogether. It is round, with a leg and no top cap.
2018 – today
Another version of the emblem, which appeared in 2018, is now in use. Then Auchan changed its slogan and slightly transformed its identity. This is how the red-and-white version appeared: an exact copy of the previous version.
Font and Colors
The evolution of this trading network’s logo coincided with its expansion, yet it always remained in the same style: the icon on the left, the inscription on the right. The name is in lowercase, except in the debut emblem, where all characters are uppercase. In 1983, a mascot appeared – a robin, which is a symbol of good nature and closeness to a person. On two emblems, the bird is red-green; on one, it is completely red. Since 2015, she has received soft features to make the retail network more attractive to potential customers.
The retailer chose the Frutiger Pro 75 typeface for its logo. This is a serrated version of the rounded, flowing font. It meets the criteria of practicality, readability, and friendliness. Its author is designer Adrian Frutiger. The corporate palette consists of three colors. Specifically, the emblem uses red (#e1001a), green (#00915b), and white (#ffffff).