It was founded on 2 August 1898 by Geoffroy Guichard under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co.[2] Casino Group is the source of many innovations, such as the first distributor's brand in 1901,[3] the first self-service store in 1948,[4] or even the display of a sell-by date on consumer products in 1959.

As of 2017 Casino Group, managed by Jean-Charles Naouri, was quoted on the Paris Stock Exchange and had total revenue of €37.8 billion.

[6] Between June 2023 and October 2024, in the grip of a financial crisis linked to its debt, the group closed or sold all of its Casino supermarkets and Géant hypermarkets in France to competitors.

[9] In its results for the first half of 2024, the Casino group announced that the Leader Price franchise activities are part of the discontinued operations.

[13] On 2 August 1898, Geoffroy Guichard founded with his father-in-law « la Société des Magasins du Casino » and « Établissements économiques d’alimentation under the corporate name Guichard-Perrachon & Co.

In 1923, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, Casino put in place a pension fund which ensured the security of employees leaving the company.

In 1923, Geoffroy Guichard became administrator of « L’Épargne de Toulouse », which had similar operations to Casino's with around 300 branches located in the South-West of France.

Restaurants were opened in Phoenix, Arizona, then in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Westwood Village, Costa Mesa, and Seattle in California.

[29] In April 1990, Casino took over the Compagnie Française d’Afrique Occidentale, La Ruche Méridionale d’Agen and SODIM and strengthened its implantation in the South of France.

[33] To increase its presence in France, Casino Group continued its wave of acquisitions by signing many agreements with national distributors.

In December 1996, Casino Group and Monoprix, branch of Galeries Lafayette, signed a partnership agreement for purchasing and logistics.

[34] In September 1997, Casino Group took majority ownership in the Franprix and Leader Price brands and their network of 650 stores.

[35] In 1997, after many months of stock-market battle, Jean-Charles Naouri, the Guichard family and employees of the Group rejected a hostile tender offer made by the Promodès distributor.

In 1999, Casino subscribed to the capital of leading distribution companies in their respective countries, GPA in Brazil and Grupo Éxito in Colombia.

[27] After having strengthened its position in 2005, Casino Group became in July 2012 the sole controlling shareholder of GPA, no 1 in distribution and no 2 in e-business in Brazil.

These assets represented 150 shopping malls on hypermarket and supermarket sites, as well as the premises of cafeterias owned by the Group.

With a length of 5 years, it aimed at creating convenience food businesses in available premises, next to Post offices, in villages of under 12,000 inhabitants.

[46] In December 2017, Casino Group signed an agreement with Ocado to develop a technological platform with an automated warehouse in France.

[citation needed] On 23 May 2019, Casino's parent company Rallye S.A., declared bankruptcy protection in an effort to maintain its high debt costs.

This restructuring procedure would allow for the company to cut high debt and improve recent losses to other rival supermarket corporations.

[54] Unlike its main French competitors, Casino Group made the bet of developing a multi-brand strategy in the 1990s under the management of Jean-Charles Naouri.

[59] Casino Group created a Company Foundation which supports childhood development by fighting against the cultural exclusion of the under-privileged.

[66] In its results for the first half of 2024, the Casino group announced that the Leader Price franchise activities are part of the discontinued operations.

[67] For financial reasons, the group closed or sold all of its Casino supermarkets and Géant hypermarkets in France to competitors between June 2023 and October 2024.

[7] In 2023, Mercure International of Monaco began replacing Casino and Géant brands with Coopérative U in Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon and Senegal.

The club was then reserved for Casino employees, and the training center was located on the « Pont de l'âne » field, the property of the Group.

A membership offered to « friends » of the club helped gather the necessary funds to build the first facilities, later named Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

In August 2020, following anonymous threats and intimidations in Germany, the analyst stock, responsible for monitoring food retail trade from Kepler Cheuvreux, was forced to stop following Casino group and the German distribution brand Metro.

The analyst had advised Kepler Cheuvreux's client investors to "hold" Metro's stock and to "reduce" their positions on Casino.

[75] In March 2020, eleven NGOs filed a lawsuit against the Casino group in French courts[76] due to its sales in South America of products based on beef, allegedly from farms linked to illegal deforestation in the Amazon.