A supermarket is a self-serviceshop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections under one roof. The supermarket retail format first appeared around 1930 in the United States as the culmination of almost two decades of retail innovations to the grocery store, and began to spread to other countries after extensive worldwide publicity in 1956. In everyday American English usage, "grocery store" is often casually conflated with "supermarket"; strictly speaking, however, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selection, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or megastore, which developed decades later.
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, art supplies, 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...)
United Petroleum is an Australian petrol retailer and importer. It was established in 1993 and, as of October 2020, has over 450 petrol stations in Australia. The company also owns Pie Face, a pie outlet it acquired in 2017 and subsequently rolled out to many of its service stations. (Full article...)
Gull New Zealand is a New Zealand petroleum distribution company and petrol station chain. It is the country's third largest fuel retailer, with 113 locations in New Zealand including 45 in Auckland. (Full article...)
Subway IP LLC, trading asSubway, is an American multinational fast food restaurantfranchise that specializes in submarine sandwiches (subs) and wraps. It was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck in 1965 as Pete's Super Submarine Sandwiches in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After several name changes, it was renamed Subway in 1972, and a franchise operation began in 1974 with a second restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut. It was the fastest-growing franchise in the world in 2015 and, as of September 2023, has over 37,000 locations in more than 102 countries and territories. More than half its locations (21,796 or 61.1%) are in the United States. It is the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world. Its international headquarters are in Shelton, Connecticut. (Full article...)
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Mein Real (stylized mein real; real until 2022 and real,- until 2017) was a chain of hypermarkets in Germany owned by Metro AG until 2020 when it was sold to The SCP Group. It was formed in 1992, from the merger of chains divi, Basar, Continent, Esbella and real-kauf. Until 2014 it was also active internationally, in Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey; most of these operations were bought by French retail company Auchan Group. In 2018, Metro decided to divest the Real chain and in 2021, many markets were taken over by either Edeka, Kaufland, Globus, Rewe or V-Markt and got rebranded with the brand of the respective new owner. The process of selling was finished by mid of 2022. However, the original plans to liquidate real completely were dropped in early 2022 when it was decided that the remaining 60 stores will continue under the real brand name under new ownership. Real's former website (real.de) was replaced by kaufland.de in 2021. The new website can be found at meinreal.de.
In September 2023, the remaining company filed for bankruptcy. After some rescue attempts failed, the remaining 45 stores that will not be taken over by competitors were closed by the end of March 2024 and the company finally ceased trading and was liquidated. (Full article...)
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FoodWorks is an Australian supermarket chain run by independent retail group Australian United Retailers (AUR). It is Australia's second largest independent supermarket retailing group behind Metcash, supporting in excess of A$1.35 billion in annual sales at the retail level. Its main competitors are Woolworths, Coles, IGA and Aldi. (Full article...)
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Electronics Boutique Australia Pty Ltd, trading asEB Games Australia, is an Australian video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. EB Games mainly sells video games, consoles, and accessories for Nintendo, PC, PlayStation and Xbox systems as well as merchandise related to pop culture/gaming.
The company operates 375 stores in Australia and 41 stores in New Zealand. These stores operate under the EB Games and Zing Pop Culture brands. EB Games' headquarters is located in Eagle Farm, Queensland (a suburb of Brisbane). The company is a subsidiary of GameStop. (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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Thomas Dux Grocer, also known as Thomas Dux, was an Australian chain of gourmet grocery stores operated by Woolworths from 2008 to 2017.
It sold a range of local and imported fresh foods and grocery items. Products included fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products, artisan-style baked breads, oils and vinegars, pasta and sauces, condiments, prepared meals, chocolate products, fresh meat and fresh flowers. Thomas Dux specialised in organic, gluten-free, preservative-free and free-range foods. Local boutique suppliers included Saskia Beer, Maggie Beer, Simmone Logue, Herbies, Ornella, Phillippa's, Rowie's, Brasserie Bread, Irrewarra and Geoff Jansz. Fruit and vegetables were sourced directly from the wholesale markets in Sydney and Melbourne on a daily basis. (Full article...)
The company also operates Contemporary Lounge, offering more youth-oriented fashion styles within the Christchurch store. (Full article...)
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Goldmark Jeweller is an Australian jewellery retailer. It was one of the brands included with the Angus & Coote purchase in March 2007 by James Pascoe Group. The current logo was introduced in 2000. Goldmark has over 130 stores across Australia, with over 1,000 employees throughout Australia and New Zealand. Goldmark sells jewellery as well as fashion brand watches. Before JPG ownership, in January 2003, Goldmark launched the gClub loyalty program. In June 2009 the gClub card was introduced.
Currently there are 15 stores in New Zealand, of which 12 are located as a store within a store within branches of Farmers department store. Goldmark's image and product range of 'contemporary female fashion jewellery' aligned with JPG's view of wanting to attract a younger audience to their New Zealand fashion department store Farmers. As part of the JPG brand family, Goldmark also now carries watches and jewellery branded with the Chisel Farmers menswear store-brand. (Full article...)
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Jewel Food Stores was an Australian discount supermarket. It operated from 1960 to 1998 with the final stores being absorbed into the Metcash owned IGA branding. The chain was originally owned and operated by the Fleming family. It was not related to the Jewel supermarket chain in the United States. (Full article...)
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This is the smallest type of shop. They are designed for small sites and filling station forecourts, airports and train stations. (Full article...)
Cotton On Group is an Australian retail company known for its fashion, clothing and stationery brands. As of 2020, it has over 1,500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 people across eight brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Typo, Rubi, Supré, Ceres and Cotton On Foundation.
The design team in the company's Australian office, control the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 850 suppliers and factories globally. Cotton On Group sources its materials and products from a number of locations worldwide with the majority of its suppliers being located in China, Bangladesh, India and Australia. It also works with suppliers in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, the United States, and other parts of Asia. These facilities are used for horizontal division of labour, rather than being integrated. (Full article...)
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BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British multinationaloil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas "supermajors" and one of the world's largest companies measured by revenues and profits.
Romeo's Retail Group owns (September 2019) 39 Foodland IGA stores in South Australia. A notable store is located in Adelaide city and in May 2023 they opened Romeo's Foodland Royal Park, anchoring the Hendon Central Shopping Centre.
In New South Wales, the Romeo's Retail Group have a number of IGAs called Locali and "Food Hall". (Full article...)
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The Country Road Group is a middle market clothing retailer with operations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. It is a subsidiary of Woolworths South Africa. Its brands include Country Road, Mimco, Trenery, Politix, and Witchery. (Full article...)
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Jay Jays is an Australian apparelchain store. It is owned and operated by the Just Group. Jay Jays focuses on clothing for younger people. At present, the chain has over 200 stores located in Australia and New Zealand. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
... that during a 1989 visit to the United States, Boris Yeltsin said that "there would be a revolution" if the average Soviet citizen knew of the quality of grocery stores in the United States?
... that the rapper Jords did not know his father was a musician until a chance encounter in a British supermarket?
... that South African president Jacob Zuma requested a tour of a Sainsbury's supermarket during his state visit to the United Kingdom in 2010?
... that food was left to rot outside after the supermarket Supie went out of business?
... that when Mexia Supermarket was abandoned because of its owners' bankruptcy, all of the food inside was left to rot for more than three months?
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![Image 1 United Petroleum is an Australian petrol retailer and importer. It was established in 1993 and, as of October 2020[update], has over 450 petrol stations in Australia. The company also owns Pie Face, a pie outlet it acquired in 2017 and subsequently rolled out to many of its service stations. (Full article...)](./_assets_/Blank.png)
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