Grocery retailing
in selected countries from Europe
Professor Thomas
Reardon (Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University), in
2005, kindly supplied several articles on grocery retailing in Africa and Asia
which have supplied considerable information for this section.
Republic of Ireland
General retail economy
Eire has earned for itself the title of ‘Celtic Tiger’ because of its rapid economic growth through the 1990s and early 2000s. Between 1992 and 1999, Irish retail sales grew at an annual rate of 7.8%, accelerating to nearer 8.6% annual growth for 1999. Total Irish retail sales were Irish Punts 11.4 billion in 1999, around 5% of the UK market.
The independent grocers held about 50% of the grocery market in 2003, mostly as members of chains like Spar, Mace, Super Valu, and Centra (information from Tony Parker, University College Dublin). Major supermarket companies, especially the companies Tesco, Dunnes Stores, and Superquinn, hold the rest, apart from the 5% share of the discounters Lidl and Aldi
Up till the early 2000s, Irish grocery prices have tended to be higher than the UK for
several reasons
i) The existence of the ‘Grocery Order’ as mentioned above,
preventing price-cutting
ii) The lack of economies of scale in the Irish market.
Ireland has a population of some 5 million, swollen in the early 2000s by
considerable immigration from the eastern European countries which joined the
EU in 2004.
iii) The relative isolation of the Irish market, protecting
incumbent stores’ profit margins.
Between 1995 and 2000 Irish retail grocery prices rose 25%,
but Irish farm gate prices rose just 5%.
Irish grocery stores enjoy an average retail margin of 33%, one of the
highest in Europe. (OECD working paper,
ECO/WKP(2006)19, 9 June 2006, by David Rae, Line Vogt, and Michael Wise)
Retail legislation
Legislation limits
grocery superstores to a maximum size of
3,500 square metres in Dublin and 3,000 square metres elsewhere. However
non-food warehouse retailers like B & Q can have stores up to 6,000 square
metres; IKEA, considering expanding into Ireland, is pressing the Dublin
government to raise that limit. In 2006 Eire abolished the ‘Grocery Order’;
like Resale Price Maintenance in the UK, this had banned discount selling of
groceries. The Grocery Order, set up in 1987, protected smaller retailers from
being undercut by larger supermarkets with superior economies of scale by
allowing grocery suppliers to fix a minimum price at which retailers could sell
their goods. The Irish Competition Authority
estimated that the Grocery Order was costing the average Irish household some 480
Euros per annum (2004), by preventing larger supermarkets from selling foods at
‘below [wholesale] cost’. In 2007 Germany made the opposite move,
prohibiting below-cost sales of food by large retailers.
Independent retailers
The number of independent grocers in the Republic of Ireland
fell from 16,000 to 6,000 from the mid 1960s to 1990.
Retail multiples
Aldi
1999, Aldi entered Ireland, opening stores Dublin and Cork.
9/2004, Aldi
had 66 stores in Eire.
Lidl
1999 Lidl
entered Eire
Musgrave
Sales to 12/2004, up 13% to Euro 68.5 million. Pre tax profit up 16% to Euro 3.8 million.
Superquinn
Eire supermarket, head office at Lucan, Dublin
2/2006, 21 stores
and 8.5% of the Eire grocery market.
Tesco
1997, Tesco entered Ireland. It
bought Power Supermarkets Ltd, who
operated stores under the Crazy Prices
and Quinnsworth fascias. Tesco Ireland was then created. Since 2000 Tesco has aggressively reduced
prices on its own-label goods, counteracting a generally high level of prices
in Eire for groceries.
17/2/2003, Tesco Ireland opened the first Tesco
petrol station in Ireland, next to the Tesco supermarket at Deerpark Road,
Killarney.
2002/3, Tesco Ireland total sales were Euro
1.79 billion.
Tesco, 2005, 91 stores in Eire. Tesco Ireland’s market share in Eire, 10/2007, was 26.1%.
Norway
General retail economy
2008, Discounters
have a 30% grocery market share
Retail multiples
Lidl
23/9/2004, Lidl opened its first nine stores in Norway.
3/2008, Lidl
pulled out of Norway. Its discount
stores were taken over by Rema 1000, a Norwegian discount chain.
Sweden
Independent retailers
Grocery outlets fell from 25,000 in 1961 to 13,700 in 1976.
Finland
Retail multiples
Kesko
Kesko market share 34% (2008)
Lidl
8/2002, Lidl
entered Finland
Denmark
Retail legislation
Denmark has prohibited superstores from being larger than
3,000 square metres, resulting in Copenhagen having an even spread of smaller
grocery stores (‘Convenience Store’, 18/7/2003, p.57).
Retail multiples
Aldi
1989, Aldi had 50
stores in Denmark
Netto
Netto is part of the Dansk Group, itself part of the Maersk Group, which also runs Maersk
Shipping. Therefore Netto is able to import foods to its UK supermarkets at
reduced rates.
4/1981 Netto opened its first store, in Copenhagen
2001 Netto
has 280 stores in Denmark. The parent
group Dansk also owns two of Denmark’s largest grocery chains, Bilka and Fotex.
Foreign portfolio
UK – entered 12/1990 (Leeds); 1995=50 stores; 2002=130 stores (130th at Pendlebury, Manchester); 2004=134 stores; 2006=145 stores
Sweden – entered 5/2002; 2005=59 stores
Germany – entered 9/1990
Poland –
entered 8/1995
Netherlands
Retail multiples
Ahold
1998,
Turnover was US$ 24.1 billion
2004,
Turnover was Euros 44.5 billion. Gross
profit was Euros 9.212 billion
2005,
Turnover was Euros 44.5 billion. Gross
profit was Euros 9.206 billion
2006,
Turnover was Euro 44.9 billion
3/2004 Ahold
exited from Asia
12/2004 Ahold
sold its Spanish stores
2005, Ahold
exited from the USA
Aldi
1989, Aldi
had 200+ stores, trading under the Combi fascia
Belgium
General retail economy
2008,
Discounters have a 13% market share.
Retail multiples
Aldi
1988, Aldi
had 150 stores in Belgium
Carrefour
1999,
Carrefour had 483 stores in Belgium
Colruyt
The Belgian discount
chain Colruyt is gaining market share at the expense of Carrefour and other
large chains as the credit crunch hits consumer spending power (Economist, 16
August 2008, p.59).
Delhaize
1998,
Turnover was US$ 11.5 billion
2005,
Turnover was Euro 18.3 billion
2006,
Turnover was Euro 19.2 billion
2008, bought
Plus Hellas in Greece
2008, bought
La Fourmi, 14 stores, in Romania.
Germany
General retail economy
Shop opening hours are more restricted than in most other European countries. German retailers were not allowed to open after 6.30pm on weekdays, and could only open on one Saturday a month, until 2.00pm. In 1996 these restrictions were partially eased to allow a further 10 hours a week opening, e.g. on all Saturdays until 4pm. This of course applies to large and small shops. Sunday opening is still (2008) rare. By contrast in the UK supermarkets can open all day Saturday and for up to six hours on Sunday. Hence in Germany there are less economies of scale open to the supermarkets. The German retail market is dominated by indigenous discount stores.
2008, discounters had a 29% market share – the 2nd largest share in Europe, exceeded only by Norway.
Germany is not an easy environment for large multinational retailers. Retail labour costs are high and this has deterred retail investment. German shoppers find themselves faced, frequently, with a choice of discount stores offering a rather basic shopping environment. Retail volume growth rates in Germany are also rather low.
Retail legislation
In 2007 the German Government approved a law to protect
smaller retailers by prohibiting retailers from selling foods below the
wholesale price they paid for them. In
other words, Germany has just gone exactly the opposite way to the Republic of Ireland, which in 2006
rescinded its Grocery Order,
forbidding large retailers from selling below cost price (source, Eurofood,
2/5/07, p.22). German retailers will
still be able to cut the prices of seasonal or near-sell-by-date foods.
Independent retailers
The number of grocery stores in Germany fell from 160,000 in 1971 to 80,000 in 1984, even as total sales space rose 50% over this period. There is even a German word – ‘Greisslersterben’ – meaning ‘death of the grocer’, to describe the decline of their independent shops.
Retail multiples
Aldi
|
Year – reporting date December |
Profits (pre tax) |
Sales |
|
|
Million Euro |
Million Euro * |
|
1954/5 |
|
15 |
|
1974/5 |
|
3,000 |
|
1984/5 |
|
8,500 |
|
1985/6 |
|
|
|
1986/7 |
|
|
|
1991/2 |
6 |
|
|
1992/3 |
11 |
|
|
1993/4 |
12.1 |
|
|
1994/5 |
13.3 |
14,800 |
|
1995/6 |
14.8 |
|
|
1996/7 |
17.4 |
|
|
1999/2000 |
|
19,000 |
|
2001/2 |
|
25,000 |
|
2003/4 |
|
26,100 |
|
2006/7 |
|
27,000 |
|
2007/8 |
|
43,000 |
*Figures converted into Euro at 2000 rates –estimates only
|
Year |
Store numbers - Germany |
Store numbers - worldwide |
|
1974 |
1,000 |
|
|
1988 |
2,000 |
|
|
2000 |
3,350 |
|
|
2003 |
|
5,000 |
|
2007 |
|
7,500 |
Head office locationss
–
Aldi Nord = Essen.
Aldi Sud = Mulheim
Aldi - history
In 1946 the Albrecht
family’s small grocery store in the industrial town of Essen was taken over by
the two sons, Theo and Karl. By 1950,
they had opened a further 12 stores, focussing on low prices, and limited range
(Gerhard, 2005). By the 1960s they had around 350 stores, and divided the
business into two; Aldi Nord, run by Theo (headquarters, Essen), and Aldi Sud,
run by Karl. The Aldi fascia first appeared
in 1962 in Dortmund, a contraction of Albrecht and discount.
1988, Aldi had 2,000 of the 6,000 discount stores in
Germany.
2002, market
share, Germany, was 7.8%
9/2007, Aldi had 6,997 stores in Europe; 4,200 in Germany.
Foreign portfolio
UK – entered 4/1990 (Birmingham)
Ireland
Denmark
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
France
Spain
Austria
Hungary – entered 2008 (planned, 400 stores in 8 cities)
Australia
USA
Edeka
1997/8,
Turnover was US$ 25,000 million
2001/2,
Turnover was Euro 25,177 million. 2002
market share was 7.9%
2006, market
share was 20.1%
Lidl
1998,
Turnover was US$ 10.4 billion
2004,
Turnover was Euros 9.7 billion
2007/8,
Turnover was Euros 35 billion
1930s, Lidl and Schwarz Grocery Wholesale founded in Germany.
1973 First Lidl store opened, in Germany.
1974, Lidl
had 10 stores in Germany
2000, Lidl had
2,000 stores in Germany
5/9/2006. Lidl is
to experiment with selling cut-price flights (with Air Berlin) at its UK
checkouts. Lidl claimed there would be a natural match between cut-price
grocery shopping and cheap flights; other rival airlines said air travellers
would tend to look for good flight deals on the Internet, not at a supermarket.
Foreign portfolio
UK –
entered 1994 (40 stores)
Ireland
Norway –
entered 2004; EXITED
3/2008
Finland –
entered 2002
Spain
Metro
Metro owns the Real
fascia. It owns the former Wal-Mart
stores, bought when Wal-Mart exited Germany in 2006.
1997/8, Sales
were US$ 34.5 billion
2001/2, sales
were Euro 32,022 million; market share was 9.7%
2002/3, sales
were Euro 53,561 million
2003/4, Sales
were Euro 56,400 million
Netto
2000, Netto
had 800 stores in Germany
Norma
1974, Norma
had 190 stores in Germany
2000, Norma
had 1,100 stores in Germany
Penny
1974, Penny
had 60 stores in Germany
2000, Penny
had 2,500 stores in Germany
Plus
1974, Plus
had 180 stores in Germany
2000, Plus
had 2,900 stores in Germany
Rewe
Owned by Toon.
1998,
Turnover was US$ 26.6 billion
2001/2, group
sales rose 8.4% to Euros 37.5 bn. Growth
in Germany was just 3%, due to poor economic conditions, giving 2001/2 sales of
Euro 22.86 bn. Growth outside Germany
was 25% up on the year, giving sales of Euro 7.65 bn.
2002, Rewe is
to close 150 of its 7,300 stores. This
comes on top of closures of 300 stores in Germany in 2001. Market share 2002 was 8.9%
2006, market
share was 13.2%
Tengelman
1998, Turnover was
US$ 22.4 billion
Wal-Mart
12/1997, Wal-Mart
entered Germany, buying an upmarket chain, Wertkauf, in 1997 (21
supermarkets).
31/12/1998 Wal-Mart
bought Inter-spar (owned by Spar-Handel AG), with a further 74 outlets. See 2006
for reasons for exit from Germany.
1999,
Wal-Mart had 95 stores in Germany
2005/6,
Wal-Mart made losses of £360 million
(Euro 528 million) on sales of £1,750 million (Euro 2,560 million) in Germany,
in 85 supermarkets. It had a 1.5% market
share in Germany in 2006.
7/2006 Wal Mart announced it would exit from Germany. Its
85 stores were sold to Metro, trading under the Real fascia. This cost the company US$863 million. Wal-Mart had suffered nine consecutive years
of losses on its German operation, of 85 hypermarkets. The company was not used to having major
chains such as Aldi and Lidl undercut its position as cheapest retailer,
and it misunderstood the German consumer culture. For example it had greeters at al its stores
to smile at all visitors. This
antagonised German shoppers who like to look for bargains unmolested by shop
assistants.
The restrictive
nature of German shop opening hours (Ladenschlussgesetz
= law on shop trading hours), with almost no Sunday trading, thwarted efforts
to gain economies of scale. Worse,
Wal-Mart never came close to gaining a significant market share of the German
retail grocery market, with just 85 stores in the country.
It also appointed a
head of the German operation who spoke no German, and insisted that his
managers also conducted business in English.
This head was then replaced by another who tried to run the operation
from England (Economist, 5/8/2006, p.54).
Contrary to what many linguistically-lazy English speakers think, not
everyone in Germany can speak English.
Poland
General retail economy
Poland presents an especially attractive market to western European supermarket chains seeking to enter the territory laid open by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the start of the1990s. Poland was one of the wealthier per-capita Warsaw Bloc countries and also the largest, giving a potentially prosperous market with good economies of scale. Poland also has a more youthful population profile than do countries in western Europe, which promises an expanding grocery market, unlike the static food market in western Europe.
The Austrian chain Billa (owned by the German retailer Rewe) set up the first supermarket in Poland, in Warsaw in 1990. By 2001, large-format stores (hypermarkets, malls, and discounters) accounted for 11% of Polish retail sales and 25% of Polish food sales.
By September 2004 Poland hosted 198 hypermarkets run by
eight different western European companies. Tesco
entered Poland in 2005. Germany’s Metro AG chain is strong in Polish retailing generally,
especially in DIY and electronics. Also
of German origin is Kaufland, a subsidiary of the Lidl and Schwarz Company. Kaufland entered Poland only in 2002 and by
2004 had 25 stores there. Kaufland
operates discount stores, with low prices but a limited range.
Retail legislation
As small Polish shops are threatened by an influx of foreign
supermarkets, Poland has enacted its own version of the French Royer law (Economist, 19 May 2001,
p.89). Local authorities can veto new shopping centres, there are restrictions
on new supermarket developments of over 2,000 square metres, and the Polish
government is being urged to stop ‘predatory pricing’, supermarket prices
deliberately set low so as to force local small shops out of business. However
many superstore operator saw this veto coming and got planning permission for
new store sites before it was implemented.
Independent retailers
Poland suffered an economic recession between 2000 and 2003, which made shoppers more careful with their money and boosted the share of any supermarket able to undercut the prices of Poland’s estimated (2004) 100,000 independent ‘corner’ grocers, shops with under 100 square metres sales space
Retail multiples
Aldi
2007, Aldi postponed plans to enter Poland, due to difficulties in finding suitable premises. Aldi has also cut back plans for Poland, from 20-30 stores down to 10, mainly in Silesia. Aldi will be competing with Lidl (market share 17%) and Plus (market share 13%), the second and third largest retailers in Poland (Eurofood, p.19, 19/9/2007).
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour had 16 stores in Poland
Tesco
1995, Tesco
entered Poland.
2000, Tesco
opened a further 6 hypermarkets, bringing its total to 10 hypermarkets and 40
supermarkets in total, trading as Savia.
2002, Tesco
bought the 13-strong chain of Hit
supermarkets in Poland.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £917 million; profits were £46 million.
2006, Tesco has a 4% grocery market share in Poland, and operates 107 stores there.
France
General retail economy
French consumers may finally be succumbing to the advancing
tide of fast food outlets and convenience food that has been as bad for the
health of local shops as it has been for people’s waistlines (Guardian 8/10/04,
p.17). Many French people spend a maximum of 20 minutes cooking (2004), and
‘55% eat their main meal in front of the television’.
French hypermarkets (over 2,500 square meters sales space)
had 3.6% of the grocery market in 1970, and 33.0% in 1997.
French supermarkets (sales space 400 – 2,500 square metres)
had 9.0% of the grocery market in 1970, and 28.3% in 1997.
French small shops had 66.7% of the grocery market in 1970
and 37.2% in 1997.
(source, Buyer Power
and Competition in European Retailing”, p.101).
France had 725 hypermarkets in 1988, 950 hypermarkets in 1992, and 1,060 hypermarkets in 1996
As the credit crunch bites, shoppers seeking economies are turning to discounter chains. In the 2nd quarter of 2008, discounters (e.g. Aldi, Lidl, Netto) accounted for 11.25 of the French grocery market, up from 10.5% a year earlier (Economist, 16/8/2008, p.59). Meanwhile the large supermarket chain Carrefour lost market share.
2008,
Discounters have a 7% market share.
Retail legislation
The Royer Law, enacted 1973, now updated by the Raffarin
Law. The Royer Law made permits compulsory for supermarkets of over 1,500
square metres in communes of population over 4,000, or of over 1,000 square
metres in smaller communes. Under the Raffarin Law, local authorities
can veto a new supermarket of over 1,000 square metres selling area. The Royer
law had restricted supermarket development over 1,000 square metres or over
1,500 square metres in communes of population over 40,000.
Independent retailers
Parts of Paris are suffering the same loss of
local shops as parts of UK cities (The Guardian, 14 June 2003, p.19).
Former small shop premises on inner-Parisian streets are being taken over by
textile-trade wholesalers or sweatshop manufacturing enterprises. Some small
food shops succumbed to the high-tech and yuppie revolution of the 1990s and
became bistros and computer shops; now that bubble has burst and these former
premises are obtainable cheaply by the textiles trade.
Despite a recent reversal in the depopulation of the French
countryside (Guardian II, 31/3/04, pp.8,9) some 10,000 of the remotest French
Post Offices are facing closure, along with a reduction in services on
the least-used rural lines of the SNCF.
French petrol stations have also suffered from
competition by the big supermarket’s petrol sales, and many rural areas of
France have no petrol stations for miles.
Retail multiples
Auchan
|
Year |
Profits |
Sales |
|
1991/2 |
|
85.1 Bn FFrancs |
|
1993/4 |
|
60.6 Bn FFrancs |
|
1994/5 |
|
64.3 Bn FFrancs |
|
1995/6 |
|
120.0 Bn FFrancs |
|
1996/7 |
|
130.0 Bn FFrancs |
|
1997/8 |
|
US$ 21.7 Bn |
|
2001/2 |
Euros 1.06 Bn |
Euros 27.5 Bn |
|
2002/3 |
Euros 1.13 Bn |
Euros 28.7 Bn |
1989, Auchan opened
first hypermarkets in Italy
8/2002, Auchan
entered Russia
5/2004, Auchan
had 4 Russian hypermarkets
Carrefour
|
Year |
Profits (million
Euro) |
Sales |
|
1991/2 |
|
117.1 Bn FFrancs |
|
1992/3 |
|
124.5 Bn FFrancs |
|
1993/4 |
|
136.3 Bn FFrancs /
28.0 Billion US$ |
|
1994/5 |
|
144.6 Bn FFrancs |
|
1995/6 |
|
154.9 Bn FFrancs |
|
1996/7 |
2,300 |
169.3 Bn FFrancs /
25,805 million Euro |
|
1997/8 |
2,600 |
27,409 million
Euro |
|
1998/9 |
2,200 |
51,948* |
|
1999/2000 |
1,600 |
64,800 |
|
2002/3 |
|
76,800 |
|
2003/4 |
1,630 |
70,500 |
|
2004/5 |
1,440 |
73,000 |
|
2005/6 |
1,860 |
77,900 |
|
2006/7 |
2,300 |
82,100 |
|
2007/8 |
|
102,000 |
* Merger with Promodes
Carrefour had 68 hypermarkets in 1988, 109 hypermarkets in 1992, and 117 hypermarkets in 1996
Carrefour market
share, France, 2006, 24.9%
Carrefour history
1959, Carrefour began with one supermarket in
Annecy.
1963 Carrefour
opened a second supermarket in Sainte Genevieve de Bois, near Paris.
End 1999,
Carrefour merged with Promodes, to
form the world’s 2nd largest retailer after Wal-Mart
2002, Carrefour
opened 41 hypermarkets, 43 supermarkets, and 228 discount stores (Eurofood,
30/1/03, p.15). By end – 2002, Carrefour
had 9,633 stores.
2005 Carrefour aimed to
be more dominant in fewer countries. “We want to be one of the top
three in a foreign market, or not present at all”, said Carrefour.
10/2005, Carrefour
now owns Champion, Ed, and Marche Plus.
Foreign portfolio
Poland – entered
2005 (bought 10 supermarkets); 2007, Carrefour bought Ahold’s subsidiary,
Ahold-Polska; end 2007, Carrefour has 339 stores in Poland (70 hypermarkets +
269 supermarkets)
Portugal –
entered 1991
Spain –
entered 1973
Italy – entered
1/1994 (bought the Sviluppo Commerciale chain); 2005, Carrefour bought 160
convenience stores
Switzerland
– EXITED 2008 (12 hypermarkets sold to Co-op)
Romania – entered 2008
Russia –
entered 2007 (Rostov on Don); a second store is planned to open, 2009,
Krasnodar
Iran – entered 2008 (Tehran)
India
Taiwan –
entered 1989
China –
entered 11/1997 (first supermarket was in the city of Chongqing); 2008,
Carrefour has 112 hypermarkets in China
South Korea
–2003, Carrefour opened its 26th hypermarket; EXITED 2006
Japan
– EXITED 2005 (sold 29 hypermarkets)
Egypt
– entered 2002 (first hypermarket was in Cairo)
USA –
entered 1988
Mexico
– EXITED 2005 (due to competition from Wal-Mex)
Brazil
– entered 1975; 2005, Carrefour bought 10 supermarkets
Chile
– EXITED
Casino
(Owns the Geant
fascia)
1991/2, turnover was
61,600 million French Francs
1992/3, turnover was
63,100 million French Francs
1993/4, turnover was
63,000 million French Francs.
1994/5, turnover was
64,100 million French Francs
1995/6, turnover was
66,800 million French Francs
1996/7, turnover was
74,500 million French Francs
1997/8, Turnover was
US$ 12,700 million
Casino (Geant)
had 24 hypermarkets in 1988, 49 hypermarkets in 1992, and 108 hypermarkets in
1996
Comptoirs Modernes
1992, turnover was
22.6 billion French Francs
1993, turnover was
23.6 billion French Francs
1994, turnover was
25.7 billion French Francs
1995, turnover was
27.0 billion French Francs
1996, turnover was
30.2 billion French Francs
1997, turnover was
32.1 billion French Francs
Cora
1996, turnover was
39.0 billion French Francs
1997, turnover was
46.0 billion French Francs
Docks de France
1992, turnover was
32.0 billion French Francs
1994, turnover was
43.5 billion French Francs
1995, turnover was
46.7 billion French Francs
1996, Docks de
France was taken over by Auchan.
Intermarche
1992, turnover was
113.6 billion French Francs
1994, turnover was
109.0 billion French Francs
1995, turnover was
116.0 billion French Francs
1996, turnover was
139.6 billion French Francs
1997, turnover was 195.0
billion French Francs
1998, turnover was
US$ 28.0 billion
Leclerc
1992, turnover was
113.8 billion French Francs
1994, turnover was
112.5 billion French Francs
1995, turnover was
117.0 billion French Francs
1996, turnover was
136.0 billion French Francs
1997, turnover was
140.0 billion French Francs
1998, Turnover was
US$ 17.5 billion
LeClerc had 155 hypermarkets in 1988, 298 hypermarkets in
1992, and 373 hypermarkets in 1996
2002, LeClerc entered Italy, in a joint venture with Italian
company Conad
2002 LeClerc’s market share in France was 17%
Promodes
1992,
turnover was 84.2 billion French Francs
1993,
turnover was 90.2 billion French Francs
1994,
turnover was 94.7 billion French Francs
1995,
turnover was 100.6 billion French Francs
1996,
turnover was 103.5 billion French Francs
1997,
turnover was 110.0 billion French Francs
1998,
Turnover was US$ 25.0 billion
End 1999,
Promodes merged with Carrefour, to form the world’s 2nd
largest retailer after wal-Mart.
Systeme U
1992, turnover was
40.0 billion French Francs
1996, turnover was
43.0 billion French Francs
1997, turnover was
50.5 billion French Francs
Tesco
Tesco bought the Catteau
chain of supermarkets in June 1993 for £150 million. However it pulled out again when it
found its brand did not transfer well to France. In 2003 Tesco maintained one supermarket near
Calais, selling no food, just alcohol for the ferry passengers.
Portugal
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1989, Carrefour entered Portugal
1999, Carrefour
had 366 stores in Portugal
Spain
General retail economy
2008,
Discounters have a 8% market share.
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1973, Carrefour entered Spain
1999, Carrefour had 3,098 stores in Spain
Erkosi
2006, Erkosi had 80 hypermarkets, 489 Erkosi-fascia-ed supermarkets, 157 Erkosi City supermarkets, also travel agents, petrol stations, sports shops, and perfume outlets
Mercadona
end 2006, Mercadona aims to have 1,065 ‘large supermakets’ in Spain.
Italy
General retail economy
Italian grocery market shares, January 2007 (source, Eurofood, 7/2/07, p.19) –
Co-op 19.6%, Conad + Interdis 18.9%, Carrefour 9.4%, Auchan 7.88%, Esselunga 6.2%
2008,
Discounters have a 6% market share.
Some Italian consumers
have reacted to the dromological (speed-oriented) lifestyle of
globalisation with the ‘Citta Lente’
movement. The aim is a return to the
slower-paced traditional Italian lunch without constant access to and by mobile
phones, faxes, emails etc. ‘Citta Lente’,
founded in 1989 by Mr Carlo Petrini, was initially a response against fast
food, provoked by the first McDonalds opening in Rome, in 1986. In 1999 a local
Italian mayor extended the concept to cover the lifestyle of an entire town.
The is now a University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Piedmont,
Italy, teaching such subjects as the anthropology of food, principles of food
technology, and the geography of wine (The Independent, 11/10/04, pp.11-12).
Retail legislation
Independent retailers
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 912 stores in Italy
Conad
2nd largest retailer in Italy, market share 2002 was 10%
Switzerland
Retail multiples
Aldi
2005, Aldi entered