The landscape of large-scale retail in Italy is experiencing an unexpected “return to the past.” About fifteen years after its definitive disappearance, the historic GS (Generale Supermercati) brand is preparing to reclaim its place on Italian streets and in neighborhoods, gradually replacing the French Carrefour chain.
Roman Origins and National Rise
The history of GS has its roots in the capital at the dawn of the economic boom. In May 1961, Marco Brunelli and Guido Caprotti (brother of Bernardo, with whom he had co-founded Esselunga) opened the first “Romana Supermarkets” store in Rome, repurposing the space of the former cafeteria at the Olympic Village. Within a few years, the company came under the control of SME (then part of the IRI group), officially becoming Società Generale Supermercati (SGS) and launching a massive expansion across the country, including new store openings and acquisitions of local chains.
The arrival of the French and the brand’s demise
In the late 1990s, the company came under the umbrella of the French giant Promodès, which later merged with Carrefour in 1999. The GS brand held on for about a decade before being phased out by the new owners: around 2010, the historic signs were permanently removed to standardize the entire supermarket chain under the single Carrefour brand.
The acquisition of NewPrinces and the unexpected twist
The circle recently closed between 2025 and 2026. Italian entrepreneur Angelo Mastrolia, at the helm of the NewPrinces group, finalized a massive deal by acquiring the entire Carrefour Italia network (for an estimated value of around one billion euros). In August 2026, the company officially announced a major restructuring: all logistics, production, and distribution operations were consolidated into a single company named, appropriately, GS S.p.A. The new ownership unveiled an updated logo (which retains the historic oval shape by placing it within a circle, to evoke the concept of an integrated supply chain) and announced the gradual replacement of the Carrefour brand with the GS logo.
