Sobeys here in Canada are the second largest retailer in the country and have been expanding Westward from their base in Nova Scotia for years. Among their store banners is IGA which has no affiliation to the Independent Grocers Alliance IGA from the U.S. or elsewhere. ( Photos from the internet. )

Somerfield PLC from the U.K. operates over 1,800 Somerfield and Kwik Save stores around the kingdom and although they shouldn't be defined as " struggling " they have been accepting offers from other companies looking to acquire them. Among those rumored to have interest is Galen Weston from Canada, the owner of Loblaw Companies Limited. ( Photos courtesy of the Somerfield PLC website. )

With over 15,000 stores around the world; Netherlands based SPAR is the largest retailer there is by store count. Operating in cooperatives, partnerships and franchise operations there aren't too many places outside of North America where you won't see one of their stores and they are present in more than 34 countries. ( Photos courtesy of Penny van der Kaars from Spar International. )

Australia

Austria

Austria

Belgium

Botswana

Czech Republic

Denmark

Norway

Finland

France

Germany

Germany

Ireland

Japan

Moscow Russia

Namibia

Poland

Singapore

Slovenia

South Africa

South Africa

Spain

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Ukraine

Zimbabwe

Located in Southern California is the 20 store chain of Superior Super Warehouse but don't be fooled by the name, their supercentres are not " Club " style stores.( Photos from their website courtesy of Emily Kaye of Superior Super. )

 

Well known and award winning Superquinn from Ireland is one of that country's leading retailers. One of their claims to fame is their " Wine Cellar " offerings such as in the image here. ( Photos courtesy of Colin Marsh from Superquinn and their website. )

 

Superseis is one of the leading retailers in Paraguay with 13 assorted size and formatted stores. Following the hypermarket concept mostly, they offer a wide variety of goods and services to their consumers. It may be obvious that the Superseis name means Super 6. ( Photos courtesy of Mariana Mendelzon and Danilo Ramirez from Superseis. )

 

 

Second of their new format stores for the Delhaize Group are the high end Sweetbay Supermarkets in Florida which are part of their Kash 'N Karry division of Delhaize America. As you can see here, the look is impressive. ( Photos courtesy of Hans Michiels of the Delhaize Group in Belgium. )

Suprisingly not a lot of people seem to be aware that Germany's Tengelmann Group are the owners of the A&P chain in North America. They also run that brand as a banner in Europe also along with a number of others. ( Photos courtesy of their website and from the internet. )

One of the most respected, admired and copied retailers in the world is Tesco from the U.K. Some have considered them to be the only real threat to Wal-mart and afterall, Wal-mart have often looked at Tesco for ideas and innovations too. ( Photos courtesy of the Tesco website. )

In Finland, another leading retailer is the Tradeka cooperative group owned by 300,000 consumers and are active in many business areas. These images of their Valintatalo chain provide a great look at some of what they offer. ( Photos courtesy of Hilkka Kemppinen of Tradeka. )

Not too much can be said about Wal-Mart that hasn't been said already and they continue to get larger and larger. Among their operations internationally are Seiyu Japan, Superama Mexico and Bompreco Brazil and more. ( Photos courtesy of the Wal-Mart website and from their informative Wal-Mart Facts website. )

Part of the Edeka Group based in Germany is WASGAU AG who operate a variety of different store types in the Edeka name including supermarkets and cash & carry type operations and more. ( Photos courtesy of their website with the guidance of Frank Grueber of WASGAU through all of the German. )

Long admired and respected in retail is privately owned Wegmans who have won many awards and accolades with one of the most prestigious being that they are #1 on Fortune Magazine's list of Best Companies to Work For. ( Photos courtesy of the Wegmans site with the assistance of Martha from Consumer Affairs. )

Unfortunately I can't say with any certainty if the Winn-Dixie stores shown here still exist given their Chapter 11 divestures and restructuring. ( Photos form the internet. )

The largest supermarket chain in Australia is Woolworths Limited with stores throughout the country and in New Zealand. Coles Myer has the top spot in the area for being the largest overall retailer. ( Photos courtesy of the Woolworths site. )

Operating over 315 stores in Austria is Zielpunkt who have brightly colored stores that are hard to miss. They too are owned by the Tengelmann group of Germany. ( Photo courtesy of Kerstin Traschler from Zielpunkt. )