Billa (supermarket)
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Headquarters | Wiener Neudorf, Austria |
Number of locations | 3,645 stores (2014) |
Key people | Volker Hornsteiner, Josef Siess |
| Products | Supermarkets |
| Revenue |  € 13.02 billion (2014) |
| Owner | REWE International AG |
Number of employees | 76,174 (2014) |
| Website | www.billa.at |
BILLA (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪla] ) is an Austrian supermarket chain that operates throughout Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.[1] The company, which was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953, is currently owned by Germany's REWE Group.
The chain's name is derived from a contraction of BILliger LAden, German for 'cheap shop' [2]
Billa in Europe
Billa operates stores in these 6 European countries:
| Country | No. of stores |
|---|---|
 Austria |
1,069 |
 Czech Republic |
214 |
 Slovakia |
140 |
 Russia |
130 |
 Bulgaria |
119 |
 Ukraine |
29 |
Billa also had locations in Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania but all of those had since been sold to other supermarket chains. In 2002, all 14 Billa stores in Hungary were sold to Spar.[3] In 2009, all 14 Billa stores in Poland were sold to E.Leclerc.[4] In 2016, all 86 Billa stores in Romania were sold to Carrefour.[5] The same year, all 62 Billa stores in Croatia were sold to Spar.[6]
Billa in Bulgaria
The company opened its first supermarket in Bulgaria in 2000 and has since then expanded to cover 35 Bulgarian cities, operating a total of 104 supermarkets as of September 2016.
In June 2006, the roof of one of the stores in Sofia collapsed during a storm. There were no injuries reported. There was an investigation to determine the reason for the poor quality of the construction work and whether the same problems are present at other Billa stores in the country, with 11 people eventually going to court.[7]
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Billa in Romania
Billa was owned by Rewe Group, which also operates XXL, Penny Market and Selgros outlets in Romania. The company used the tagline Billa zilnic - Cel mai bun pentru mine ("Billa daily - The best for me") and opened its first store in Bucharest in 1999. Since then, Billa has turned into one of the most well represented supermarket chains, with 87 stores (as of September 2016) in Romania.[8] In 2015, all Billa stores were sold to Carrefour Group,[9] and by the end of 2017 will be rebranded into Carrefour Market.[10]
Billa in Russia
Rewe Group operates 130 stores 'Billa' in Russia (including 93 in Moscow). The company opened its first supermarket in Russia in 2004 and has since then expanded to cover Moscow and few cities around Moscow.[11]
See also
References
- ^ 30.05.2006, 00:00 (2006-05-30). "Unternehmen & Märkte « Archiv «". Wirtschaftsblatt.at. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
{{cite web}}:|author=has numeric name (help) - ^ "BILLA, sagt der Hausverstand | BILLA". Billa.at. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
- ^ "Ungarische Billa-Märkte wurden an Spar verkauft - 14 Märkte mit 39 Mill". Euro Umsatz - Wiener Zeitung Online. 2002-09-12. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
- ^ "Rewe Group sells supermarkets in Poland to E.Leclerc". FoodBev Media. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ "Approval of the acquisition of Billa supermarkets in Romania". Carrefour Group website. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ "SPAR acquires 62 BILLA stores in Croatia". Spar International website. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ "Стандарт - Новини, които си струва да споделим". Standartnews.com. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
- ^ "BILLA inaugurează un magazin în Timișoara și ajunge la 80 de unități în România" (in Romanian). retail-fmcg.ro. 30 October 2013.
- ^ Carrefour a cumpărat BILLA şi devine cel mai mare retailer din România
- ^ Cum arată strategia Carrefour pentru formatul de supermarket după integrarea Billa
- ^ БИЛЛА в России.
External links
