Carrefour Marinopoulos

The company was founded in 1962 by the Marinopoulos family under the name Self Service Marinopoulos. The family had already established a strong presence in the pharmaceutical industry since 1893, when the first pharmacy opened in Exarchia. In 1948, PHAMAR was established. In 1969, a partnership began with Le Printemps, leading to the rebranding of the company's stores as Orisunic Marinopoulos.

In the early 1970s, the company introduced its iconic mascot, Pi-Mi, depicted embracing the drachma, accompanied by the slogan If you love your drachma!. The partnership ended in 1991 following the dissolution of the French group.

In 1989, Marinopoulos acquired Tresko, the sixth-largest retail group in Greece, and over the following five years expanded operations in Crete through acquisitions of Creta Market, Rethymno Market, Mega Market S.A., and Alfa Mi. In 1992, the company also acquired Paschalidis in Central Macedonia.

In 1993, a partnership was established through Ypermarinopoulos ABETE with Continent Hellas, involving a mutual exchange of 20% shareholdings and introducing the concept of hypermarkets to Greece—stores exceeding 2,000 square meters. The first opened on February 25, 1993, in Pylaia, Thessaloniki, on the site of what is now IKEA, followed by another in early 1996 in Efkarpia.

In 1999, a strategic alliance was formed with the French food retail giant Carrefour, which also assumed the operations of Promodes in Greece, including Continent Hellas S.A. and Dia Hellas S.A. At the same time, Carrefour engaged in negotiations with the owners of the Marinopoulos Group, leading to the establishment of the Carrefour Marinopoulos joint venture, operating under the Champion brand, with equal ownership stakes (50%–50%) between the French and Greek partners. The stores were rebranded as Champion Marinopoulos.

That same year, a joint venture was launched between Tropea Symmetochiki and Carrefour Marinopoulos.

In April 2000, the merger was formalized and the new entity was named Carrefour Marinopoulos S.A., which absorbed the companies Niki S.A., 'Ypermarinopoulos ABETE, Marinopoulos Northern Greece ABETE, Etavik S.A.' and Continent Hellas S.A., Dia Hellas S.A. came under the control of the parent company, Carrefour S.A.

In parallel with their partnership, the French retail group and the Marinopoulos family acquired the Xynos Markets chain in Athens and Leiraikon in Piraeus in 2004, as well as the Laliotis chain in Boeotia and Kronos in Patras in 2014. Notably, Kronos continued to operate under its original brand name.