TURKEY : CONSUMERS GIVE COLD SHOULDER TO FRENCH PRODUCTS

Fibre2fashion.com, India
Oct 17 2006

Following French parliament’s decision to pass the Armenian bill,
some Turkish consumers are refusing to buy products manufactured by
the French.

Consumer associations have launched a boycott of French goods while
some chain stores are putting labels on French goods to inform
consumers of their French origin.

Afra Shopping Center, a supermarket chain operating in Konya has
labeled 100 items stating them to be French products.

French store Carrefour, a partnership in Turkey with Sabanci Holdings,
has been receiving fewer customers everyday.

A 30 percent decrease in sales of total oil was observed.

Kiler Retail Chain, with 130 stores in Turkey, has shunned sales
of French products, cancelled its contracts with Danone and French
cosmetics companies and removed other French goods from their shelves.

Clothing company LC Waikiki announced that it wasn’t French as it had
been purchased from French DDKA Company by Tema Textile Corporation
in 1997, hence it is Turkish.

Regular customers of Danone products have been returning them after
learning that Danone was a French company.