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The Supermarkets Portal
A supermarket is a self-serviceshop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday United States usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".
The supermarket typically has places for fresh meat, fresh produce, dairy, deli items, baked goods, and similar foodstuffs.
Shelf space is also reserved for canned and packaged goods and for various non-food items such as kitchenware, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies. Some supermarkets also sell other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), medicine, and clothing, and some sell a much wider range of non-food products: DVDs, sporting equipment, board games, and seasonal items (e.g., Christmaswrapping paper, Easter eggs, school uniforms, Valentine's Day themed gifts, Mother's Day gifts, Father's Day gifts and Halloween).
A larger full-service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket. Other services may include those of banks, cafés, childcare centers/creches, insurance (and other financial services), mobile phone sales, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies, and gas stations. If the eatery in a supermarket is substantial enough, the facility may be called a "grocerant", a portmanteau of "grocery" and "restaurant".
The traditional supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level. It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently the convenience of shopping hours that extend into the evening or even 24 hours of the day. Supermarkets usually allocate large budgets to advertising, typically through newspapers and television. They also present elaborate in-shop displays of products. (Full article...)
Tiendas Comercial Mexicana S.A. de C.V., colloquially known as La Comercial and La Comer, was a Mexican hypermarket group that operated mainly in Mexico City and Central Mexico. It was founded in 1930 and operated by Controladora Comercial Mexicana. From 2016 to 2018 it was owned and operated by Soriana, which also owns Alprecio stores. Comercial Mexicana, including its different store formats, was the third-largest supermarket chain in Mexico as of 2014. (Full article...)
The overall size of the sector has been increasing since the end of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with retail sales increasing by 30% between 1999 and 2005. One contributing factor was the growth of larger stores with greater buying power and economies of scale, at the cost of smaller bricks and mortar merchants. Another contributing factor was low price inflation, with the price of imported goods falling 12% during that period. (Full article...)
Independent Timber Merchants or the Independent Timber Merchants Society (usually shortened as ITM) is a New Zealand co-operative of independent building supplies and hardware retailers. Its stores sell a range of products to both tradespeople and consumers, including building supplies, power tools, kitchens and paint.
The co-operative is the largest group of independent trade merchants in New Zealand. It is the second largest supplier of timber to the New Zealand building industry after Fletcher Building subsidiary PlaceMakers. There are 95 ITM member stores around New Zealand, including 16 in Auckland. (Full article...)
Costco's worldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington, an eastern suburb of Seattle, although its Kirkland Signature house label bears the name of its former location in Kirkland. The company opened its first warehouse (the chain's term for its retail outlets) in Seattle in 1983. Through mergers, however, Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California. , Costco has 876 warehouses worldwide: 600 in the United States, 108 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 4 in Puerto Rico, 33 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in South Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, 6 in China, 4 in Spain, 2 in France, 1 in Iceland, 1 in New Zealand, and 1 in Sweden. (Full article...)
SuperValue is a chain of locally owned and operated supermarkets in New Zealand, established in 1964. The stores are operated under franchise agreements, with franchise and group operation controlled by Wholesale Distributors Limited (WDL).
There are 38 SuperValue stores around New Zealand, including 6 in Auckland. The franchise is owned and operated by Woolworths New Zealand (Full article...)
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Mountain Designs is an outdoor clothing and equipment business based in Australia. They sell hiking, rockclimbing and general outdoor and recreational equipment. The company stocks a variety of international and local brands, as well as their own brands of clothing, accessories, sleepwear and bags. (Full article...)
The overall size of the sector has been increasing since the end of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, with retail sales increasing by 30% between 1999 and 2005. One contributing factor was the growth of larger stores with greater buying power and economies of scale, at the cost of smaller bricks and mortar merchants. Another contributing factor was low price inflation, with the price of imported goods falling 12% during that period. (Full article...)
It was established in 1976 as a partnership of eight independent grocery stores. In the same year, Metro opened its first self-branded supermarket in Athens. Today (2015) the company has 108 stores all over Greece. 62 of its stores (usually sized between 1000-2000 m2) operate under the brand name My Market, while the remaining 46 (usually sized over 2000 m2) operate under the brand name Metro Cash & Carry. Metro is the sixth largest supermarket chain in Greece as measured by market share. (Full article...)
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Harvey Norman is an Australian multinationalretailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned by ASX-listed Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. As of 2022, there are 304 company-owned and franchised stores in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and South-East Asia operating under the Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne brands in Australia, and under the Harvey Norman brand overseas. (Full article...)
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Extra was a retail chain in the German food sector that belonged to the REWE Group from July 1, 2008, until it ceased to exist in 2009. The company was previously part of Metro Group. After it serves as a great supplier of food (Full article...)
Plus was a German multinational discount supermarket chain founded in 1972. It operated 2,840 stores in Germany with an approximate 27,000 employees and about 1,200 stores in several other European countries. The retail model was to sell low-cost groceries with no expense incurred for display or marketing of products. Groceries were stored in the shipping cartons they came in, rather than being stacked on shelves. In German advertising, the name "Plus" was used as a backronym for "Prima leben und sparen" (approximately "top-notch living and saving"), featuring animated "little prices" (also sold as plush puppets) as their mascot. (Full article...)
Fakta, a chain of discount stores as of September 2022 superseded by 365discount and was founded in 1981 as Dansk Discount A/S, renamed Fakta in 1982. Six years later, the chain became a part of Coop Danmark. In May 2011, Fakta had 374 stores with around 6,000 employees. They operated stores located at more central urban places, called Fakta Q, which sold food, primarily convenience food. They were replaced by regular Fakta stores with Fakta Q being discontinued in 2017. Fakta's slogan is "Det er Fakta" ("It's a fact" or "It's Fakta"). The old slogan "Det er sund fornuft" ("It's common sense") is still used on Fakta-branded products. In the 21st century their slogan became "det tager kun 5 min" ("it only takes 5 mins"). In 2013, Fakta opened its first two stores in Germany, just south of the Danish border. (Full article...)
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Fantastico (Фантастико) is a Bulgariansupermarket chain founded in 1991. Fantastico is part of the retail sector and primarily sells foodstuffs. The first supermarket was opened at 72 Oborischte street. Since then the company began expanding mostly in the capital of Bulgaria.
, the company operates 45 stores in Sofia and 3 outside Sofia, including a do-it-yourself store and eight cash and carry hypermarkets. Although most Fantastico stores are in the capital, the chain is the main competitor of international chains like Billa in the country. In 2007, Fantastico opened its first supermarket outside the capital, in the town of Kyustendil, in south-western Bulgaria. Nowadays, there are Fantastico supermarkets in Sofia, Kyustendil, Pernik and Elin Pelin. The chain currently employs more than 3,100 people. The holding is called Van Holding and is privately owned by Valeri Nikolov, according to Bulgaria's commercial register data. (Full article...)
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The Paper Plus Group is a group of three brands in New Zealand. The group is a three brand co-operative franchise business model.
Two of the stores, Paper Plus and Take Note, sell books, stationery, cards, magazines and giftware, while Office Spot focuses on home office and business supplies. (Full article...)
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Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership-only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. , Metro is operating 626 wholesale stores in 21 countries, including Europe, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.
The company was established in 1964 by Ernst Schmidt and Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck. In 2010, it was the fourth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues, after Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco. Until 2020, it was also active in the general retail business through the Real division, which was sold to an investor consortium. Its current incarnation was launched in 2017 as a spun-off of old Metro AG, which continued to be a consumer electronics retailer and renamed itself Ceconomy. (Full article...)
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Jaycar, formerly Jaycar Electronics, is an Australia-based retailer dealing in electronic components and related products for electronics enthusiasts. The company owns around 110 stores across Australia and New Zealand, and also sells its products online in the UK and US. It was founded in 1981 by Gary Johnston, who remained managing director until his death in 2021.
The company also has a wholesale arm, Electus Distribution. (Full article...)
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Mad Mex Fresh Mexican Grill, referred to simply as Mad Mex, is an Australian-based multinational chain of fast-food restaurants based in Sydney, that purveys Mexican cuisine, while the Mad Group own the master franchise for the restaurant in New Zealand.
Mad Mex Fresh Mexican is Lucha libre-themed and was voted the best Mexican restaurant nationwide in the Lifestyle Food Awards. (Full article...)
Together via Migros supermarkets, Macrocenter Stores, international Ramstore shopping centers, online and mobile shopping, wholesale stores, and mobile sales units, Migros Turkey serves an estimated 160 million customers. As of Nov 2014, the company operates a total of 1,156 stores: 852 Migros stores, 212 Tansaş stores, 24 5M stores and 27 Macro Centers stores in Turkey, 41 Ramstores in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia, according to its web site. (Full article...)
BP's origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, established as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran. In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954, adopted the name British Petroleum. BP acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio in 1978. Formerly majority state-owned, the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. BP merged with Amoco in 1998, becoming BP Amoco p.l.c., and acquired ARCO, Burmah Castrol and Aral AG shortly thereafter. The company's name was shortened to BP p.l.c. in 2001. (Full article...)
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