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This article examines the implementation of competition policies in France from 1945 to 1960 through a case study of the prohibition of refusal to sell between suppliers and retailers. This research looks closely at the history of French retailing. It finds that the prohibition of refusal to sell was not the result of a comprehensive, national competition policy, rather this policy was designed solely as an instrument for reforming the retail trade. By retracing the genesis of sale refusal regulation, this article documents the work of the civil service and the economic and political motivations behind it, as well as the role played by entrepreneurs, notably Édouard Leclerc, the founder of what subsequently became a major chain of supermarkets.