Netto is a
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
discount
supermarketA supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
operating in several European countries. Netto is owned by Dansk Supermarked Group, which in turn is partly owned by
A.P. Møller-Mærsk GroupA.P. Moller – Maersk Group , also known as Maersk , is a Danish business conglomerate. A.P. Moller – Maersk Group has activities in a variety of business sectors, primarily within the transportation and energy sectors. It is the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the...
.
Netto also operates an express version of the store, known as Døgn Netto. Døgn stores offer the same service as regular Netto stores, with longer opening hours and higher prices.
2009 saw Netto celebrate its 28th birthday with special offers in store in the weeks number 16, 17 and 18 every year.
Geographic coverage
At the end of May 2009, Netto had stores in the following countries:
On 27 May 2010 it was announced that Netto would sell all UK stores to
AsdaAsda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
for £778M.
Denmark
The first Netto store opened in
CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1981. At first the items sat in boxes and on pallets, but the chain quickly expanded, and the service level increased as well. Today there are 406 stores (February 2010).
The very first Netto opened in 1979, it was "red" instead of "yellow", and was called NETTOmarked.
Germany
In September 1990, Netto started an internationalisation process, and Germany was the second country to gain Netto stores. The first store was opened in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern not long after the Fall of the Wall. Netto has since expanded in the states of
BrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
,
BerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
,
Saxony-AnhaltSaxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
and
Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, and there are a total of 293 stores end of May 2009.
In Germany, a second chain of stores, called
Netto Marken-DiscountNetto Marken-Discount is a German supermarket chain. It is owned by the largest German supermarket cooperative Edeka Group and operates mostly in the south and west of Germany...
and owned by
EDEKAThe Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation, currently holding a market share of 26%. Founded in 1898, it consists today of several cooperatives of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation Edeka Zentrale AG & Co KG, with headquarters in Hamburg...
has also been in operation since 1984. It currently has more than 3,500 sales outlets across all German states after taking over 2,300 Plus Discount Supermarkets in early 2009 and rebranding them to
Netto Marken-DiscountNetto Marken-Discount is a German supermarket chain. It is owned by the largest German supermarket cooperative Edeka Group and operates mostly in the south and west of Germany...
. Due to the takeover it became one of the three largest discount supermarket chains in Germany. The two chains are unrelated to each other.
United Kingdom
Netto began operating in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
on 13 December 1990, with the company's UK headquarters being based in the ex-mining village of
South ElmsallSouth Elmsall pronounced "south em-sull" is a small town and civil parish to the east of Hemsworth in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is on the B6422 and B6474 ....
,
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. Netto primarily expanded in central England, before moving south into
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Presently, there are 194 stores in the UK, all in England and Wales.
Plans for a £200M investment in 70 stores in
South WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
were cancelled due to logistical issues, resulting in the sell-off of stores in Barry and
CaerphillyCaerphilly is a town in the county borough of Caerphilly, south Wales, located at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley, with a population of approximately 31,000. It is a commuter town of Cardiff and Newport, which are located some 7.5 miles and 12 miles away, respectively...
. There are four stores in
North WalesNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, including stores at
HolyheadHolyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
,
Llandudno JunctionLlandudno Junction , once known as Tremarl, is a small town in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. It is part of the ancient parish of Llangystennin, and it is located south of Llandudno. It adjoins Deganwy and is to the east of the walled town of Conwy, which is on the opposite side of the River...
,
FlintFlint is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee. It was the county town of the historic county of Flintshire and today is the third largest town in Flintshire. According to the 2001 Census the population of the community of Flint was 12,804...
and
CaernarfonCaernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...
.
Many prices are very similar to
wholesaleWholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
prices, in a style and concept closest to the now defunct
Kwik SaveKwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom until 2007. Its stores were small to medium sized high street supermarkets, mainly located in areas with below average incomes...
brand. To enforce fairness to all shoppers, many offers are limited to 6 per person. Netto sells brand-name products, such as
PepsiPepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
and Walkers Crisps; commonly these are
parallel importA parallel import is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as grey product, and are implicated in issues of international trade, and intellectual property.The practice of parallel...
s.
In May 2010, Netto UK was bought by
AsdaAsda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
for £778m. The decision by Asda was to increase its smaller store portfolio. 147 of the former UK Netto stores will be re-branded under the
AsdaAsda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
name by the summer of 2011. The remaining 47 stores have been sold off to other companies such as
MorrisonsWm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
and new convenience store UGO and other retailers due to competition laws.
On 30 September 2011, Netto UK ceased trading.
Poland
The first Netto store in Poland opened in
SzczecinSzczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
in 1995. The expansion of the branch is concentrated in the west part of the country from Szczecin to
GdańskGdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
(for example in
PolicePolice is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Police County. As of 2006, the town had 34,284 inhabitants. The name comes from Polish pole, which means "field"....
and
Stargard SzczecińskiStargard Szczeciński is a city in northwestern Poland, with a population of 71,017 . Situated on the Ina River it is the capital of Stargard County and since 1999 has been in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship; prior to that it was in the Szczecin Voivodeship...
), and through the country to
Bydgoszcz,
PoznańPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, and
Zielona GóraZielona Góra is a city in Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, with 117,557 inhabitants within the city limits and 294,000 inhabitants within the metropolitan area, including three neighbouring counties ....
, and the country has 212 stores today.
Sweden
The Swedish part of Netto was founded in 2002 as a
joint ventureA joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between Dansk Supermarked and
ICA called
Netto Marknad AB. The co-operation was granted by the
European CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in 2001. The headquarters were established in
HalmstadHalmstad is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of Nissan in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County...
in March and the first store was opened in
TrelleborgTrelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 25,643 inhabitants in 2005. It is the southernmost town in Sweden.-History:...
on May 8. A week later two stores where opened in Lund. In the beginning, Netto kept their stores in the
GötalandGötaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
region.
In August 2004 the first stores in
StockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
were opened. The head office moved to
FalkenbergFalkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 18,972 inhabitants in 2005.The town has a population of 19,000 and is located at the mouth of the river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish words for falcon and mountain...
in October 2003.
The Swedish Netto branch is expanding rapidly. As of 2003 there were 28 stores. One year later there were 58 stores and as of December 2007 the store count is 84 and of May 2009 there are 107 stores.
At the end of 2006 ICA announced it was pulling out of the joint venture, reducing its stake from 50% to 5%. 21 stores in the Stockholm and Västerås regions would transfer to ICA ownership with most being rebranded to ICA's own formats during 2007. The reasons for the change were problems in supplying the stores based on Netto's more southern base as well as ICA's desire to focus investment on its own formats.
Other countries
The Netto name is also used in other countries such as Spain and France, but these stores are independent from the Scandinavian Netto. The Spanish Netto is a chain of
convenience storeA convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s owned by
DinoSolDinoSol operate the following stores:HiperDino Express A chain of convenience stores and small supermarkets operating in the Canary IslandsHiperDino A chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets operating in the Canary Islands...
and the
French NettoNetto is a French chain of hard discount stores owned by the Les Mousquetaires group. Previously known as Comptoir des Marchands, the chain changed its name to Netto in 2001...
is a discount chain owned by
Les MousquetairesLes Mousquetaires is a privately owned retailing symbol group based in France and operating internationally. Its head office is in Bondoufle, France....
.
See also
- List of supermarket chains
- Aldi
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
- Lidl
Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...
- List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom
- Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
Further reading
External links