Dive Brief:

• Carrefour says it will end its experiment in India's retail segment and close its stores there by September. 
• The move comes just four years after Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer by sales, opened its first of five warehouse-style stores in India.
• Walmart, which also operates warehouse stores in India where only registered members can shop, is rumored to be interested in buying Carrefour's operations there.

Dive Insight:

India's retail sector has long looked promising to the world's supermarket giants. But the truth is that few of them have been able to make things work there.

India's legal requirements that retailers have local partners has certainly caused problems. Local laws limit foreign retailers to warehouse operations unless they secure a partnership with local investors. Carrefour had put considerable effort into reaching a deal with Sunil Mittal's Bharti Group, but to no avail.

Walmart is also operating on the sub-continent only in warehouse stores. So is Germany's Metro AG. In fact, the only major supermarket chain to find a partner and open supermarkets in India is England's Tesco, which has a deal with Tata Group.