Denis Defforey

At the dawn of the 1960s, the Defforey family managed a food wholesale business in the French Ain region. They met the dry goods store owner Marcel Fournier and they pooled their expertise to launch a discount store in Annecy.^[3] Defforey was first in charge of the food sections.^[2] With his brother Jacques Defforey and Marcel Fournier, Denis Defforey traveled to the United States in the early 1960s to study and export the new models of superstores.^[3] They were trained by Bernardo Trujillo.^[4] With the explicit goal to go after the new E.Leclerc stores,^[2] they opened the first Carrefour superstore in 1963 in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.^[2][3]

Denis Defforey was president of the group Carrefour from 1985 to 1990.^[2] He remained on the supervisory board of Carrefour until 1995.^[4] After the merger of Carrefour and Promodès in 1999, the Defforey family's 18% shares in Carrefour were diluted. Defforey distanced himself from the new direction.^[2] His son Hervé Defforey was the group's number 2 until 2001.^[4] The Defforey family remained minor shareholders of the group Carrefour until 2004.^[3]