A supermarket is a self-serviceshop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket 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 American English usage, however, "grocery store" is often casually used as a synonym for "supermarket". The supermarket retail format first appeared around 1930 in the United States as the culmination of almost two decades of retail innovations, and began to spread to other countries after extensive worldwide publicity in 1956.
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...)
Mercadona (Valencian:[meɾkaˈðɔna], Spanish:[meɾkaˈðona]) is a Spanish supermarket chain, with 1,618 stores across Spain and 54 in Portugal (as of 10/2024).
The company was founded by Francisco Roig Ballester and his wife, Trinidad Alfonso Mocholi in 1977. Mercadona began as a small butcher's shop in Tavernes Blanques, a village in Valencia. Juan Roig assumed the role of CEO in 1981, and the company has since expanded nationwide. (Full article...)
Retail Apparel Group is an Australian and New Zealand clothing retail company, wholly owned by the Foschini Group. The company operates stores under the Tarocash, Connor, yd., Johnny Bigg, Rockwear and AXL+Co brands. (Full article...)
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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...)
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The Trusts are a group of two community-owned organisations (licensing trusts) with a near monopoly on the sale of alcohol in West Auckland. They are one of the largest alcohol retailers in New Zealand.
The company also operates Contemporary Lounge, offering more youth-oriented fashion styles within the Christchurch store. (Full article...)
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Nike, Inc. (stylized as NIKE) is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.
The company was founded on January 25, 1964, as "Blue Ribbon Sports", by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971. The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding and Nike CR7. The company also sells products under its Air Jordan brand and its Converse subsidiary. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey from 1995 to 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan, Umbro, and Hurley International. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just Do It" and the Swoosh logo. (Full article...)
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Brugsen was originally the nondescript brand name of Coop amba's retail outlets in Denmark. After opening a series of branded stores starting in 1961 and deciding to focus on its retail operations in the 1980s, Coop began closing factories, and spun off its larger Brugsen stores as SuperBrugsen in 1991 and its smaller ones as Dagli'Brugsen the next year. In 1995, the smallest convenience stores were organized as LokalBrugsen.
After a failed attempt to merge their operations with Norway's Coop Norge (NKL) and Sweden's Kooperativa Förbundet (KF) as Coop Norden in 2002, Coop amba regained sole ownership of the group's Danish operations, Coop Danmark, in 2008. Coop Denmark continues to operate the SuperBrugsen, Dagli'Brugsen, and LokalBrugsen chains as separate divisions of its operations. (Full article...)
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GAS Petrol Service Stations (stylised g.a.s.), owned by Gasoline Alley Services, is a New Zealand petrol station franchise, which sells petrol and diesel. It has 127 locations around New Zealand, including 33 in Auckland.
The franchise was established in 1999 and had 14 locations by 2000. It had 35 outlets by 2003. The brand expanded to 75 locations by 2006, and 120 locations by 2011. (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. As of 2020, 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...)
The chain is made up of 78 petrol stations, including five in Auckland. Most of the petrol stations are based in small towns and stock petrol and diesel; many have amenities and small convenience stores. (Full article...)
Lincraft is a retail chain in Australia that specialises in the sale of homewares, including crafts, material, and patterns. As of October 2022, it has 48 locations around Australia and New Zealand.
Lincraft (formerly Suzanne Silks) was nurtured by three generations of the Ross family before current owners John Maguire and Brian Swersky established Lincraft Australia in 2005. Lincraft was founded in 1938 by Leo Ross as a stall shop in Melbourne. In 2005, Lincraft was in receivership due to a slump in Christmas sales. (Full article...)
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Australian Liquor Marketers is the liquor arm of Metcash. It distributes liquor to businesses around Australia and New Zealand, and runs a franchise of almost 2900 liquor stores operating as The Bottle-O, Cellarbrations, IGA Liquor, Duncans, Thirsty Camel, Big Bargain, Porters and Merchants Liquor.
The company has 13 distribution centres across every state and territory of Australia, and a distribution centre in New Zealand. It is Australia's largest supplier of liquor to independently owned liquor retailers and largest broad-range liquor wholesaler, supplying to 12,000 liquor customers. (Full article...)
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ResenePaints LTD is a New Zealand paint and building materials manufacturer and retailer. (Full article...)
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Z Energy is a New Zealand fuel distributor with branded service stations. It owns some of the former assets of Shell New Zealand and Chevron New Zealand. It has been a subsidiary of Australian petroleum company Ampol since May 2022.
Shell left the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its operations to Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, with the operations being rebranded as Z Energy in 2011. Z Energy acquired Chevron's New Zealand subsidiary Caltex in June 2016. (Full article...)
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Mace is a convenience shopsymbol group operating as three separate entities with different ownerships in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The shops are independently owned and join the groups, paying a fee for marketing and branding support and purchasing their stock from the brand owners. (Full article...)
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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...)
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Simply Market is a brand of French supermarkets formed in 2005. This brand is a new concept to eventually replace Atac supermarkets. The brand belongs to the AuchanSuper subsidiary that manages the branches of Auchan supermarkets. The group planned to open 500 Simply Market supermarkets in France by 2015. (Full article...)
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Briscoe Group is a New Zealandretail chain. It has 92 stores throughout New Zealand trading under the Briscoes Homeware (48) and Rebel Sport (44) nameplates. The company was founded in 1861 in Dunedin, New Zealand, providing wares to gold miners. Profit in 2022 was $88.4 million. It has 2,300 staff in 90 stores. (Full article...)
... that during a 1989 visit to the United States, Boris Yeltsin said that "there would be a revolution" if the average Soviet citizen knew of the quality of grocery stores in the United States?
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