A convenience store, bodega, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, fruits, vegetables, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, although many jurisdictions limit such beverages to those with relatively low alcohol content, like beer and wine. The stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services, along with the use of a fax machine or photocopier for a small per-copy cost. Some also sell tickets or recharge smart cards, e.g. OPUS cards in Montreal or include a small deli. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location and are used as a convenient supplement to larger stores.
A variety store is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. It usually sells them at discounted prices, sometimes at one or several fixed price points, such as one dollar, or historically, five and ten cents. Variety stores, as a category, are different from general merchandise superstores, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, grocery stores, or department stores.
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.
Aldi is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 19 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when they took over their mother's store in Essen. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in Mülheim.
Iceland Foods Ltd, trading as Iceland, is a British supermarket chain headquartered in Deeside, Wales. It mainly sells frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables, alongside non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy and dry goods. The company also operates a chain of shops called The Food Warehouse.
Delhaize Group SA was a Belgian multinational retail company headquartered in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium, and operated in seven countries and on three continents. The principal activity of Delhaize Group was the operation of food supermarkets. On 24 June 2015, Delhaize reached an agreement with Ahold to merge and form a new parent/holding company headquartered in the Netherlands: Ahold Delhaize.
A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs.
ICA Gruppen AB (publ) (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈîːka]; "ICA Group"; from Inköpscentralernas aktiebolag, lit. '"the Purchasing Centres' Corporation"') (formerly Hakon Invest AB) is a Swedish retailer franchise with a focus on food and health. The group also owns a bank, real estate division and a pharmacy chain.
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, and as of 2021 consists of 13,623 stores in 48 countries.
Albert Heijn, often abbreviated to AH and informally to Appie, is the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands with a market share of 34.8% in 2020. It was founded in 1887, and has been part of Ahold Delhaize since 2016.
Primark Stores Limited is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original Penneys brand is not used outside of Ireland because it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney.
No Frills is a Canadian chain of discount supermarkets, owned by Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited. There are over 200 franchise stores located in nine Canadian provinces.
Pearle Vision is an American chain of eye care stores. It is one of the largest franchised optical retailers in North America. The company was acquired by Luxottica, an Italian eyewear company, in 2004. As of December 31, 2018, Pearle Vision operated 110 corporate stores and had 419 franchises throughout North America.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE) is the largest pizza chain in Australia in terms of network stores numbers and network sales, as well as the largest franchisee for the US Domino's Pizza brand in the world. DPE is the exclusive master franchise for the Domino's brand network in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and Taiwan. Across these markets, DPE has over 2,800 stores. In May 2005 DPE became the first publicly listed pizza company in Australia.
Yogen Früz is a Canadian chain of frozen yogurt and smoothie stores that also serves healthy alternative food products. The chain is run through company-owned, franchised, and non-traditional partnerships. The chain operates worldwide and has been rated one of the top 500 franchises for over 20 years. The global headquarters is in Markham, Ontario in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada.
The REWE Group is a German diversified retail and tourism co-operative group based in Cologne, Germany. The name REWE comes from Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften", meaning "Western Buying Co-operatives Auditing Association".
A controversy surrounding the illegal repackaging of out-of-date meat led the Swedish grocery store chain ICA to take actions towards a better quality work in the stores. Prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into four stores in the ICA supermarket chain, after a television documentary aired on December 5, 2007, revealed that they had repackaged out-of-date ground meat and put it back on the shelves in four of the largest hypermarkets in Sweden. ICA apologised, suspended all of its Christmas commercials and summoned all 1,400 store managers to an emergency meeting in Stockholm.
Cold Stone Creamery, Inc. is an American international ice cream parlor chain. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands. The company's main product is premium ice cream made with approximately 12–14% butterfat, made on location and customized for patrons at time of order. Cold Stone has also expanded its menu with other ice cream-related products, including: ice cream cakes, pies, cookie sandwiches, smoothies, shakes, and iced or blended coffee drinks. Since 2008, the company has been co-branding its locations with other chains in an attempt to increase its presence outside the United States, and transform its business model from seasonal to year-round. There are about 1,300 locations in 20 countries worldwide.
