Carrefour: False walls

If retail is all about showmanship, Carrefour’s Jose Luis Duran gets full marks. The French supermarket boss plans to shift a big chunk of Carrefour’s real estate into a listed vehicle, and partly open it up to outside investors. That may appeal to shareholders and analysts who want property-heavy supermarket groups to monetise their bricks and mortar. In reality, it’s little more than financial engineering. Carrefour has nothing to lose from separating off 60% its E20bn-E24bn real estate, the w...