The Huge Oh, Shawn!

Hear ye, all Shawns and Seans; indeed every Shaun of any spelling: the topic of this article is not an expression of massive disappointment in you or anyone bearing a name similar to yours.

Rather, it is an exposé of the ginormous French retail outlet Auchan which is pronounced the same way as the phrase above.   

And here I thought Auchan was a German retailer because that name also breaks down to German words ‘auch’ and ‘an’, meaning ‘also on’! - perhaps intended to mean ‘also on sale...?’

Auchan was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez in his hometown of Roubaix in France. He modeled his department store concept on successful retailers’ concerns he prowled while on a sojourn in the U.S.

Mr Mulliez is a very interesting character. He comes from a retail background – more of boutique type selling than the general sales one experiences in a big box outlet. Still, one could see where he might have gotten the idea of becoming a retail giant.

Nevertheless, he was poor at academics and even failed his baccalaureate; France’s high school leaving exam. Maybe his modestly successful father despaired over him? He spent a year in England, playing rugby and learning the language.

At some point he crossed the pond, visited the Big Apple and the giant retail stores there, returning home well before he turned 30. He opened his first department store when he was just 29 years old. 

Ok, interesting... but what does Shawn have to do with it all?

Mr Mulliez’s native province, where his hometown is located, is called Haut-Champs, meaning High Fields. That is the phonetic equivalent of Oh Shawn.

Are all Shawns now breathing a sigh of relief? May I go on about Auchan now that you know how it is pronounced and why it is pronounced specifically that way?    

Today, Auchan is an international retail group with stores scattered all over Europe and Asia. They did have a presence in the Americas at the turn of the millennium but soon withdrew; they couldn’t compete with Walmart!

Szczecin is home to several Auchan outlets; indeed the one right by Everbest Realty where I rented my apartment from was the first grocery store I perused when I got here.

It is large by Polish store standards and boasts wide aisles and a varied product selection all while maintaining Polish shoppers’ expectations: deli-type meats and cheese counters, an onsite butcher and, naturally, entire aisles dedicated to chocolate and sweets.

A major downside to that downtown Auchan is that it is always so crowded! It anchors the Galaxy shopping mall...

Wait a minute... why am I talking about grocery stores... again???

The wind is bitterly cold now, and snow has started to fall. Deprived of a bike to ride – and wouldn’t ride in these conditions anyway!, short of joining a gym, walking around indoor spaces is about as good an exercise regimen I can have right now.

Apparently, many Poles feel the same way as they too can be seen ambling around the various shopping centers in town. 

Mind you, when the sun is shining and the wind not quite so brisk, we all toddle around outside...

In light of the fact that the weather, most days, is abysmal, I am always scoping for new places to walk around in.

Sidestep

You might know from my China days that I believe one of the best ways to learn a city is to ride public transportation.

I now have all of the tram routes in Szczecin down pat and have graduated to buses.

This exercise proved a bit difficult as standard Polish informational websites in any language other than Polish are lacking and the city’s Wikiroutes page was woefully incomplete.

By sheer happenstance one day, I stumbled upon the official Szczecin transportation website and, eclipsing my frustration at again finding it all in Polish – what’s a foreigner to understand about getting around if they don’t understand the language??? – clicked on the English button at the top right of the page. 

There opened a treasure trove of information all in PDF files: maps, schedules; even alerts and fares!

Since then, I’ve been giddily riding the longest bus routes, some that go even beyond the city limits and into neighboring towns.

It was on one of those jaunts that I spied the huge Auchan, in the middle of nowhere and not a bus stop close to it... at least, not for the bus I was currently riding.

Later, at home, combing the transportation website I found which bus terminates at Auchan and marveled at the fact that it stops very close to my house! I vowed to make that huge Auchan my next outing.

Provided the schedule cooperated.

Indeed I was disappointed to find that bus only runs once every hour and, not caring to wait at the bus stop that long (I had just missed it!), that bit of exploration got put off. Again and again...

Until yesterday!

Finishing my breakfast I realised that, if I got a wriggle on, I might just make that bus. Wriggle I did and made it to the stop... a minute after its scheduled departure, according to my clock.

Well, dang! But the tram is right there and I could always go to the Auchan downtown; the one I am already familiar with.

On the other hand...

There was a bus cresting the horizon; why not see which one it is before settling for the Auchan downtown?

Lo and behold, it was the wrong bus. But then, right behind it came the right bus; the one that comes only once per hour!

Thus I made my way to the huge Auchan. That adjective is no exaggeration.

Upon entering the complex – it is actually also a mall with several satellite stores and a food court, the hypermarket itself astounds. Standing by the first aisle, the dairy cases, the distance to the other end of the store is underscored by no fewer than 50 checkout lines; there are even self-checkout kiosks.

What couldn’t one find there? Clothes, shoes, books and stationery; notions and bedding and furniture and electronics and toys and food and dishes and kitchenware and...

It took me more than one hour to walk the place, marvelling over and over: this place is HUGE!!!

I will close this article with a single picture to sum it all up.

You might have wanted to see the long chocolates aisle or the aisle dedicated to bulk sales – those uniquely Polish store features that I had previously mentioned. This Auchan had an entire aisle for bulk goods instead of just an endcap!

Instead, I offer you a snapshot of the gardening aisle. Just one aisle, completely full of seed packets.

“Oh, sure!” You might say. “Walmart and Home Depot also have gardening departments where you can buy seeds.”

True: on a spinning rack or a hanging wall rack you could find a limited selection of seeds. Perhaps, at a farmer’s CO-OP, a more ample variety.

But this is in a department store...

Don’t you think that this picture indicates just how huge this store is???

Afterthoughts:

Now that I am acquainted with the huge Auchan I find my local supermarket, Carrefour (also a French brand) sorely lacking.

Fortunately, I bought oven cleaner and Thai sweet chili sauce at the huge Auchan; those products and many others I’ve been hunting don’t seem to be available locally.

I can see now that I will have to make my way there more often.

Oh, Shawn!