The Visegrád Group is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-operation in military, economic, cultural and energy affairs, and to further their integration with the EU. All four states are also members of the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Bucharest Nine (B9).
BILLA is an Austrian supermarket chain that operates in central, eastern and southeastern Europe. The company was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953. He sold his controlling interest to Germany's REWE Group in 1996.
Europe is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe, counting 18 member states. It was formed in Budapest in 1989. The body was developed on the basis of earlier experiences with The Alps-Adriatic Working Group. The CEI headquarters have been in Trieste, Italy, since 1996.
The Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI) is an annual informatics competition for secondary school students. Each of the participating central European countries (plus one or two guest countries, and a local team from the host area) sends a team of up to four contestants, a team leader and a deputy team leader. The contestants compete individually, i.e. a team score is not calculated. Competitors are selected through national competitive programming contests.
Tchibo is a German chain of coffee retailers and cafés known for its range of non-coffee products that change weekly. The latter includes: clothing, furniture, household items, electronics and electrical appliances. In Germany, Tchibo's slogan is "Every week a new world". Tchibo has further expanded its product range to sell services such as travel, insurance, and mobile-phone contracts.
Kaufland is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl. The hypermarket directly translates to English as "buy-land." It opened its first store in 1984 in Neckarsulm and quickly expanded to become a major chain in what was formerly West Germany. It operates over 1,500 stores in Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.
The Baumax AG was an Austrian chain of home improvement stores. It was founded in 1976 by Karlheinz Essl Sr. in the city of Klosterneuburg and operated more than 150 stores in Austria and several countries of Central and Eastern Europe. As of 2010, the company employed over 9,000 people and generated an annual revenue of 1.13 billion euros. The business came into financial trouble during the Great Recession. It was finally broken up by creditors in 2015/16.
AMC Networks International Central and Northern Europe is a Budapest, Hungary-based television company, owned by AMC Networks International.
East-Central Europe is the region between German-, Hungarian-, and West Slavic-speaking Europe and the East Slavic countries of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Those lands are described as situated "between two": "between two worlds, between two stages, between two futures".
AmRest is a European multinational casual dining, fast-food restaurant and coffee shop operator headquartered in the Spanish capital, Madrid . The company runs more than 2300 locations, mostly franchises of KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, and also Burger King until 2022, but also operates its own brands of restaurants. Apart from Spain, AmRest operates in Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and others.
Humanic is a subsidiary of Leder und Schuh with its headquarters in Graz. In 1907, the American Shoe House HUMANIC opened its first two stores in Vienna, on Kärntnerring 6, opposite the famous Hotel Bristol, and in Mariahilferstraße 92, opposite Hotel Palace.
Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.
Raben Group is a Dutch logistics company group. Its operations include international road forwarding, domestic distribution, contract logistics, warehousing, sea and air freight, intermodal transport and logistics services for fresh products.
dm-drogerie markt is a chain of retail stores headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, offering cosmetics, healthcare items, household products and health food and drinks. The company was founded in 1973, when it opened its first store in Karlsruhe.
Tesco has expanded its operations from the United Kingdom to 11 other countries. Tesco pulled out of the United States in 2013, but continues to see growth elsewhere. Tesco's international expansion strategy has responded to the need to be sensitive to local expectations in other countries by entering into joint ventures with local partners, such as Samsung Group in South Korea, and Charoen Pokphand in Thailand, appointing a very high proportion of local personnel to management positions. It also makes small acquisitions as part of its strategy: for example, in its 2005/2006 financial year it made acquisitions in South Korea, one in Poland and one in Japan.
Cropp is a clothing brand and retailer chain, owned by the LPP, that is specialized in the streetwear style of clothing. Its headquarters are located in Gdańsk, Poland. In 2021, company owned 356 stores in Europe, located in 17 countries, including 170 stores in Poland, and 186 in other countries. Additionally, it operated online retail in 13 countries. It was established in 2004.
House is a clothing brand and retailer chain, owned by the LPP. Its headquarters are located in Gdańsk, Poland. In 2021, company owed 322 stores, including 170 stores in Poland, and 141 in other countries across Europe. Additionally, it operated online retail in 13 countries. It was established in 2001 by Artman company, and bought by LPP in 2009.
