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...)
Waitomo Group is a New Zealand fuel retailing and distribution company. It is based in Hamilton and has 70 petrol stations around the country including 9 in the Auckland Region.
Waitomo sells Mobil fuel, diesel, lubricants and solvents through its branded petrol stations and to commercial clients, including businesses, agricultural contractors, roading and civil engineering contractors, forestry crews, workshops, quarries and farms. It also offers bulk fuel supply, onsite diesel supply and fuel and oil storage solutions. (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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Chemist Warehouse Group (trading as Chemist Warehouse, Chemist Warehouse New Zealand, My Chemist, My Beauty Spot) is an Australian company operating a chain of retail pharmacies both locally and internationally. The company is one of Australia's largest pharmacy retailers with over 500 stores in Australia, and employs over 20,000 staff. The company brands itself as offering discounted prices for pharmaceutical goods.
The company also manages a website and a "click and collect" 24 hour dispense either pick-up and delivery service for medications. (Full article...)
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føtex is a Danish chain of supermarkets. The business was established in 1960 as the first supermarket in Denmark and later gave rise to Salling Group (previously Dansk Supermarked Group).
The name "føtex" is a mix of the Danish words "Fødevarer" (daily groceries) and "Textil" (textiles). (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...)
The distinguishing feature of the Big Fresh was its emulation of a farmers market in a supermarket environment, with a focus on an extensive range of fresh foods; this was unique in New Zealand at the time of its opening. (Full article...)
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Kirkcaldie & Stains (known informally as Kirkcaldie's or Kirks) was a department store in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1863 by John Kirkcaldie and Robert Stains with a capital of £700. The first store was opened on Lambton Quay. In 1868 Kirkcaldie & Stains moved to their final location at the corner of Lambton Quay and Brandon Street, expanding several times. There was a branch on Cuba Street, Wellington from 1870 –1876 and one in Napier from 1897 until 1917. French luxury skincare brand Sisley was exclusive to the store in New Zealand.
Kirkcaldie & Stains announced on 4 June 2015 that the store would close in January 2016, when the site, after a multi-million dollar refit, would become a David Jones store. Shareholders approved the plan on 31 July 2015 in a special meeting. The store closed on 16 January 2016. The main store on Lambton Quay reopened as 'David Jones Wellington', a branch of Australian department store chain David Jones Limited, on 28 July 2016. David Jones closed on 12 June 2022. (Full article...)
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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 many others throughout Asia, Africa and Oceania. (Full article...)
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Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarketchains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when they took over their mother's store in Essen. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in neigbouring Mülheim.
In 1962, they introduced the name Aldi (a syllabic abbreviation for Albrecht Diskont), which is pronounced [ˈaldiː]ⓘ. In Germany, Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd have been financially and legally separate since 1966, although both divisions' names may appear as if they were a single enterprise with certain store brands or when negotiating with contractor companies. The formal business name of Aldi Nord is Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co., while the formal business name of Aldi Süd is ALDI SÜD Dienstleistungs-SE & Co. Each company is owned and operated independently, but they do have contractual business with one another. (Full article...)
Accent Group is an Australian and New Zealand footwear and clothing retail, wholesaling and distribution company. It has more than 800 retail stores, along with 19 brands, and more than 20 online platforms.
Caltex first started in New Zealand as the Star Oil Company in 1920, which was registered and established to import and distribute fuel oils from the USA under the Texaco brand. Lubricating products were handled by the Texas Company Australasia Limited (i.e. predecessor of Caltex Australia) while refined products such as petrol and kerosene were distributed by Star Oil Company under agreement with the Texas Company. Service stations selling Texaco fuel began in the early 1930s. When Caltex was established globally in 1936, Texaco signage was changed at service stations to the new name. However, it was not until 12 January 1945 when Caltex Oil (N.Z.) Limited was registered and incorporated.
New Zealand was the first country where Caltex sold Boron fuel, which had been sold in the country for two years under the name Texol. The success in New Zealand allowed Caltex to sign up rights to sell Boron in other markets worldwide. It remained Caltex's fuel brand globally until it was phased out in the 1980s. In November 1996, Caltex Oil (N.Z.) Limited changed its name to Caltex New Zealand Limited. In 1999, the first ever non-service station (stand-alone) Star Mart store in New Zealand opened in Wellington. At the beginning of 2006, there were 20 stand-alone Star Marts throughout the country. In 2009, the stand-alone stores were sold off and rebranded as Fix; remaining Fix stores were rebranded as Night 'n Day in 2017. (Full article...)
There were 134 stores in Hungary in February 2018. (Full article...)
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The Edeka Group is the largest Germansupermarketcorporation , holding a market share of 25.3%. Founded in 1907, it currently consists of several co-operatives of independent supermarkets, all operating under the umbrella organisation Edeka Zentrale AG & Co KG, with headquarters in Hamburg. There are approximately 4,100 stores with the Edeka nameplate, ranging from small corner stores to hypermarkets. On 16 November 2007, Edeka reached an agreement with Tengelmann to purchase a 70% majority stake in Tengelmann's Plus discounter store division, which was then merged into Edeka's Netto brand, resulting in around 4,200 stores by 2018. Across all brands, the company operated a total of 13,646 stores at the end of 2017.6 (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...)
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...)
Noodle Box is Australia's largest franchised noodle restaurant chain, with a network of over 70 restaurants across the country. (Full article...)
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Foodland is an Australian supermarket chain in South Australia, founded in 1962 and has been operating for over 60 years.
Foodland has established itself as an well-known brand in the South Australian retail sector and directly employs over 7,000 staff and indirectly more than 1,500 South Australian staff. There were 96 stores covering South Australia and Broken Hill in 2023. (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...)
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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