The growth of the wholesale & retail format has become the main engine of Brazil’s food retail industry in recent years. Carrefour itself accelerated this movement by prioritizing Atacadão and reducing its exposure to the traditional hypermarket model. In 2023, the company announced the conversion of around 40 hypermarkets into Atacadão and Sam’s Club units between 2024 and 2026.

Assaí is perhaps the clearest example of this transformation. In 2024, the retailer completed its project to convert 66 hypermarkets and reached the milestone of 300 stores nationwide, consolidating one of the largest expansion cycles in Brazil’s food retail sector.

Data from SiiLA’s Market Analytics shows that Assaí expanded by 111,500 square meters in leased industrial properties space across Brazil since 2021.

Grupo Mateus also reinforces this trend. The company has been aggressively expanding its presence in Brazil’s Northeast region, primarily through the wholesale & retail format. In 2025, the group opened dozens of new stores and surpassed the mark of 300 operational units, with Mix Mateus remaining one of its main growth drivers. Within the industrial properties market, the group expanded by 74,000 square meters.

Meanwhile, hypermarkets have steadily lost relevance in food retail. The model has struggled with high operating costs, oversized sales areas, and changes in consumer behavior, as shoppers migrated toward more price-efficient formats such as wholesale & retail stores and proximity retail. Carrefour itself has been closing and converting traditional stores across several regions of Brazil.

Other cases also demonstrate the crisis facing traditional food retail formats. Extra, which shut down its hypermarket operations, sold its stores to Assaí between 2021 and 2022.

Spanish retailer Dia has also faced difficulties in recent years, including debts exceeding R$1 billion, store closures, and judicial recovery proceedings. The company is currently focused on smaller-scale operations.