The French retail sector is presented through its main companies as far as the food sub-sector is concerned and through some of its most typical markets for the non food sector. The food retail sector is dominated by 6 large retail firms which are managed through various types of ownership arrangements. Department stores and variety stores on the one hand and clothing and cosmetic retail markets are detailed as non food retail activities. Then new trends in shopping behaviour, technologies (Internet and mobile phones) and regulation (the Raffarin Act on big store location and other laws on retail pricing) are described in order to show what challenges French retailers will face in the near future. Finally, Porter's model, with the five strategic forces, and the stakeholder theory are mobilized to explain what could happen if regulation changes, as will probably be the case very soon.