Carrefour and Auchan don't exist in my country, but Lidl is one of the biggest supermarkets (#4, ahead of well established local brands) even though they only entered the market a couple of years ago. The #2 and #3 supermarkets are owned by Scandinavian supermarkets but rebranded - basically just a different name, same colours and style. The #1 is HQed here, but has a majority share of the market in neighbouring countries.
Tesco is big outside the UK and Ireland in a few Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary. I think they were the first hypermarkets in these countries. I've lived in Italy and Spain, and my local supermarkets there were Carrefour and Auchan.
So yes it varies... But my point was that if you actually look it's fairly easy to find a supermarket brand that's HQed in another country.
Maybe more common (where I am) in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe, as these markets are younger, so it made sense for foreign brands to come when everything opened than establishing everything from scratch.
Of course it's not so integrated as the US - you explained this yourself, brands and marketing are tailored for the local market - but it's not so uncommon as OP suggested.
Tesco is big outside the UK and Ireland in a few Eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary. I think they were the first hypermarkets in these countries. I've lived in Italy and Spain, and my local supermarkets there were Carrefour and Auchan.
So yes it varies... But my point was that if you actually look it's fairly easy to find a supermarket brand that's HQed in another country.
Maybe more common (where I am) in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe, as these markets are younger, so it made sense for foreign brands to come when everything opened than establishing everything from scratch.
Of course it's not so integrated as the US - you explained this yourself, brands and marketing are tailored for the local market - but it's not so uncommon as OP suggested.