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...)
Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used "The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co-operative societies in the UK. Other societies use their own branding. (Full article...)
SPAR, originally "DESPAR", styled as "DE SPAR" (Dutch pronunciation:[dəˈspɑr]), is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, and consists of 13,996 stores in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam. The company operates a partnership programme and has a presence in most European countries, as well as throughout Asia, Africa and Oceania. (Full article...)
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McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and, in 1961, bought out the McDonald brothers. Previously headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, it moved to nearby Chicago in June 2018. McDonald's is also a real estate company through its ownership of around 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land (which it leases to its franchisees).
McDonald's is the world's largest fast food restaurant chain, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries in more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021. McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries, although their menu also includes other items like chicken, fish, fruit, and salads. Their bestselling licensed item is their french fries, followed by the Big Mac. The McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees (behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees), the majority of whom work in the restaurant's franchises. , McDonald's has the sixth-highest global brand valuation. (Full article...)
Le Relais des Mousquetaires are rural convenience stores, founded in 1989. Their key principal is to "bring life back to the villages and combat the rural exodus" and offer basic products that are needed in these small isolated villages. According to the website, 'Le Relais des Mousquetaires is a store which meets a requirement: to perform the role of the village grocery so that people who have chosen to live in even the most isolated villages can find supplies close at hand and at the best prices.' (Full article...)
Leader Price, (full name: Société S.A. Leader Price Holding), is a French discount store chain of the Groupe Casino, headquartered in Paris, France. The chain sold its 545 directly owned stores in France, currently operating only franchise stores. (Full article...)
Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home products and food products. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. In its 2024 results the company stated that it was aiming at reducing locations to 180 full-line and 420 food stores in the UK, commenting that legacy stores were more expensive to operate. Through its television advertising it asserts the exclusive nature and luxury of its food and beverages. It also offers an online food delivery service through a joint venture with Ocado. (Full article...)
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Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue of A$43.5 billion in the 2023 financial year, it is one of Australia's largest companies by revenue. Wesfarmers is also one of the largest private employers in Australia, with approximately 107,000 employees.
Wesfarmers was founded in 1914 as a co-operative to provide services and merchandise to Western Australian farmers. It was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1984 and grew into a major retail conglomerate. (Full article...)
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Kvickly was in the beginning a Swedish food market chain owned by the 'consumers organization' ('Konsumentföreningen') in Sweden. The first store opened in the 1950s in the Stockholm area. The company name was changed to Domus in Sweden in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the stores became superstores selling more than food.
The first Kvickly store was opened by FDB in Denmark in 1961. In Denmark, the sister chain remains Kvickly, which has a large selection of items, and were in 2010 named by the Danish Ministry of Health as the easiest place in Denmark to buy healthy food. Kvickly's headquarters are in Albertslund,and it has 81 stores. (Full article...)
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Pak'nSave (stylised as PAK'nSAVE) is a New Zealand discount food supermarket warehouse chain owned by the Foodstuffs cooperative. It is one of the three main supermarket chains in New Zealand, alongside Woolworths New Zealand and New World (the latter is also owned by Foodstuffs). There is a total of 58 Pak'nSave stores throughout the country.
Pak'nSave stores are large and have a no frills environment, often with unlined interiors and concrete floors. From 2015, Pak'nSave was consistently the cheapest supermarket in New Zealand during several years of surveys. (Full article...)
It owns the trademarks Hyper U, Super U, Marché U and Utile, which are used by its members. It had a pre-tax turnover of 12.7 billion euros in 2002 and 13.8 billion in 2003, rising to 15.6 billion euros in 2007; this makes the company the sixth largest retail group in France. (Full article...)
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The Country Road Group is a middle market clothing retailer with operations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is a subsidiary of South African company Woolworths Holdings Limited. , its brands include Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Politix, and Witchery. (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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Mein Real (stylized mein real; real until 2022 and real,- until 2017) was a chain of hypermarkets in Germany owned by Metro AG until 2020 when it was sold to The SCP Group. It was formed in 1992, from the merger of chains divi, Basar, Continent, Esbella and real-kauf. Until 2014 it was also active internationally, in Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey; most of these operations were bought by French retail company Auchan Group. In 2018, Metro decided to divest the Real chain and in 2021, many markets were taken over by either Edeka, Kaufland, Globus, Rewe or V-Markt and got rebranded with the brand of the respective new owner. The process of selling was finished by mid of 2022. However, the original plans to liquidate real completely were dropped in early 2022 when it was decided that the remaining 60 stores will continue under the real brand name under new ownership. Real's former website (real.de) was replaced by kaufland.de in 2021. The new website can be found at meinreal.de.
In September 2023, the remaining company filed for bankruptcy. After some rescue attempts failed, the remaining 45 stores that will not be taken over by competitors were closed by the end of March 2024 and the company finally ceased trading and was liquidated. (Full article...)
It was founded in Canberra by then-medical student Sam Prince with the idea of using the profits to support humanitarian causes. The chain donates a meal to someone in need in the developing world for every meal purchased through their Plate4Plate program. (Full article...)
The longtime Subway slogan, "Eat Fresh", is intended to indicate that their toppings are indeed fresh. It was the fastest-growing franchise in the world in 2015 and, as of September 2023, has over 37,000 locations in more than 100 countries and territories. More than half its locations (21,796 or 58.1%) are in the United States. It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world. Its international headquarters are in Shelton, Connecticut, with further headquarters in Miami, Florida. (Full article...)
Before its reintroduction, the original 'Woolworths' brand was phased-out in the late 2000s. All but one store were rebranded as Countdown by 2011, with the exception in Mount Maunganui. (Full article...)
As of December 31, 2008, the Luxottica Group operated 2,286 stores around the world, most of those as part of the Sunglass Hut brand. (Full article...)
... that a British supermarket uses barriers to prevent shoppers grabbing food with yellow discount stickers out of the hands of staff?
... that before Angeli Foods was sold this year, the first self-service grocery store in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan had been owned by three generations of a single family?
... that food was left to rot outside after the supermarket Supie went out of business?
Four people are killed and ten others are wounded in a shooting at the Mad Butcher supermarket in Fordyce, Arkansas, United States. The suspect, Travis Eugene Posey, is shot and arrested by Arkansas State Police. (AP)
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![Image 1 Poslovni sistem Mercator, d.o.o. (pronounced [mɛɾˈkaːtɔɾ]; Latin for 'merchant') is a Slovenian business conglomerate. One of the largest companies in Slovenia by annual revenue, it is the parent company of the Mercator Group of supermarket chains. It is wholly owned by the Croatian joint-stock company Fortenova Group. In addition to Slovenia, Mercator Group is also present in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. The core business of the Mercator Group is the retail of everyday consumer goods through a diversified retail network across Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. (Full article...)](/en/File:Blank.png)
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