Paris, Nov 17 - French grocer Casino plans to cut costs by bringing its ailing hypermarkets and more resilient supermarkets under a single management team.
Supermarket head Andre Lucas will become chief operating officer of both divisions, Casino said on Tuesday.
Jean Duboc, hypermarket head since 2007, will stay on as an advisor to Casino Chairman Jean-Charles Naouri.
Several analysts, however, said it would take time for the new structure to bear fruit, with the tough retail environment in France likely to extend into next year.
Like-for-like sales at Casino's French Geant Casino hypermarkets fell 9.6 percent in the first nine months of this year.
"There is not likely to be any immediate impact," said Justin Scarborough, an analyst with Royal Bank of Scotland, adding that the savings would help offset "ongoing pressures" in 2010.
Natixis analyst Pierre-Edouard Boudot said the strategy made sense but would only have an impact in the long term.
The move follows recent management changes at larger rival Carrefour, with Chief Executive Lars Olofsson taking over European operations from Guy Yraeta, until he names a replacement.
A source close to Casino told Reuters the proposal had already been put to employee representatives, who were expected to give their decision in the next two weeks. If approved, the changes will take effect in January 2010, the source said.
"This new organisation aims to improve the coordination between the brands," Casino said in a statement, referring to better customer service, purchases and logistics.
Casino will not merge the two divisions.
Casino's non-food purchasing and food purchasing departments will also be combined under merchandise and supply chain Director Herve Daudin to increase "operational efficiency", the company added.