A
company to watch over the next few years is the Aeon
Group of Japan. Their publicly stated goal of becoming one
of the top 10 global retailers is a realistic possibility. In 2005
they purchased Carrefour Japan
to add to their assets. ( Photos from the internet. )
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Maxvalu |
Maxvalu |
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Aeon
Group |
Jusco |
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After
a couple of difficult years and many divestures, Ahold seems
to be back on track with their operations throughout the world.
Strategically their may still be acquisitions for them to make
in the future but nowhere to the extent of previous years. ( Photos
from the internet. )
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Stop & Shop
( U.S. ) |
C1000
( Europe ) |
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C1000
( Europe ) |
Albert
Heijn ( Europe )
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Albert
Heijn ( Europe ) |
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Albert
Heijn ( Europe ) |
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One
of the most secretive retailers in the world is Germany's Aldi .
Their discount stores with limited assortment / limited sku's make
them somewhat immune to Wal-Mart. A very powerful albeit not too
well known company here in Canada where there have been rumors
of their plans to enter the country for years. ( Photos from the
internet. )
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Part
of the Wal-Mart giant since 1999, ASDA in
the U.K. has been a leading retailer there but has a long way to
go to meet or beat Tesco. They
are successful in their own right and continue to incorporate more
non-food in their business with things like their " George " clothing
lines and more. ( Photos from the internet. )
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In
Sweden, Axfood is a subsidiary
of the conglomerate Axel-Johnson
Group and is one of the largest retailers in Scandanavia. They
have a 17% market share of Sweden and an estimated 8% share of
Finland. ( Photos courtesy of the Axfood website. )
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Hemkop
Division |
Hemkop
Division |
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Hemkop
Division |
Willy's
Division |
Willy's
Division |
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SPAR
Finland Franchise |
SPAR
Finland Franchise
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Basha's is
a chain of over 140 stores in the state of Arizona in the U.S.
Over and above their retail goods and services, they sponsor
an art gallery for Western / Native American art. ( Photos courtesy
of Dallas Bennewitz from Basha's. )
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Covering
16 states from Maine to Florida, the chain of BJ's
Wholesale Club stores has been very successful in competing
in the Big Box arena with Sam's Club and Costco and continues
to grow successfully. ( Photos courtesy of the BJ's Wholesale
site. )
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Part
of the Delhaize Group of
Belgium are the Bloom stores
from the Food Lion chain
which were designed as a model for convenience shopping. Check
out the Bloom website for the innovations. ( Photos courtesy
of Hans Michiels from Delhaize Belgium )
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In
Spain, Caprabo is one of
the largest retailers in the country. Unfortunately their website
is non-English and you will need a good translation program to
navigate your way around. ( Photos courtesy of the Caprabo website.
)
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Carrefour of
France by sales volume are second only to Wal-Mart and have operations
all around the globe. They have yet to show any interest in North
America and in 2005 divested their Japanese holdings through
a partnership deal with Aeon. ( Photos from the internet. )
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In
Hong Kong the City Super chain
of supermarkets has impressive perishable food offerings as seen
in these photos taken by Andrzej F Wronkowski. ( Photos courtesy
of Bonnie Chow from City Super. )
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The
Italian company Conad operates
as a cooperative and among their franchises are several E
Leclerc stores
from the French retail company. You will need your translation
tool here again where there is no English content on either
site. ( Photos courtesy of the Conad website. )
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Conad
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Conad
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E Leclerc
/ Conad
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E Leclerc
/ Conad
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E Leclerc
/ Conad
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In
France is Coop Alsace another
European Cooperative. The literal translation of their " Le Mutant
" stores is " The Mutant "...interesting. ( Photos courtesy of Serge Lorentz of Coop Alsace. )
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Le Mutant
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Maxi
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Rond Point
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Coop Alsace
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Coop Point
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Coop Extra
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Coop Forum
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Coop Konsum
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As
mentioned earlier, from Belgium is the Delhaize
Group which is probably best known as being the owner of Food
Lion in the U.S. Always an innovator, Delhaize America has adopted
several successful store designs such as Bloom and Sweetbay
Supermarkets as part of their group. ( Photos courtesy
of the Delhaize Group website. )
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Delhaize
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Delvita
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Food Lion
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Food Lion
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Hannaford
Brothers
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The
number one food retailer in Germany is the Edeka
Group and although
not many have heard of them, they are also among the top 20 leading
retailers of the world. ( Photos courtesy of the Edeka website. )
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In
Austria the Etsan chain of stores
have adopted a variety of different looks to match the city or country
landscape of their markets. ( Photos courtesy of Abdullah Unal from
Etsan. )
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Operating
the Tigre and Maxi Tigre Supermarkets along with the Dis discount
type stores and the Oasi hypermarkets is Italy's Gabriella
Group and these interior photos of their food retail business
provides a good look at what they offer. ( Photos courtesy
of Stefania Gabriella from the Gabriella Group. )
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Located
in the state of California is Gelson's
otherwise known as the Arden Group. Recognized as leaders for
quality and customer service, these photos show a good look at what
keeps their customers coming back. ( Photos courtesy of Yvonne
Cooprider and Angel
Estrada from Gelson's. )
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Privately
owned Giant Eagle is another
award winning company of over 130 stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West
Virginia and Maryland. These photos show the kind of quality they
offer. ( Photos courtesy of Brian Fey from Giant Eagle. )
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