This is a list of hypermarket chains sorted alphabetically by continent and country. A hypermarket is a superstore carrying a wide range of products under one roof, and may aim to allow customers to satisfy all their shopping needs in one trip.
The Algerian chain Ardis (owned by Algerian group Arcofina) is currently operating one hypermarket in the city of Mohammadia, just outside Algiers. In the future Ardis will open 19 hypermarkets in the country; the next will open near Oran in Bir El Djir.[1][2]Carrefour ended their partnership with the Algerian group Arcofina on February 19, 2009. "The concept of mass distribution does not work in Algeria," added Carrefour. Before that, Carrefour had still only one store opened as of 2009 of 18 hypermarkets planned by 2012. The private group Arcofina explained that there was a delay because of difficulties in finding available land for hypermarkets. Arcofina is now focusing on opening hypermarkets in the future under the Ardis brand.[3][4]
There are several hypermarkets operating in the country. The biggest are Marjane, Aswak Assalam and Carrefour. The Acima brand, which belongs to the same retail group with Marjane, are stores that cannot qualify as hypermarkets because they are smaller.
The Pick n Pay Stores chain uses the term for 14 of their largest stores in South Africa. Checkers also runs 24 hypermarkets under the "Checkers Hyper" name.
The hypermarket format in Israel was not a success because retail chains abandoned hypermarkets and later converted them into smaller discount stores. Carrefour opened in the country in 2023, currently having more than 100 branches, with plans to open more.[15]
The hypermarkets operating in Kuwait are Grand Hyper division Regency Group Dubai, which operates six hypermarkets in Kuwait, in Fahaheel, Watiya, Hawally, Jleeb al Shuwaikh, Khaithan and Hassawi, and two Grand Fresh mini supermarkets in Mangaf and Abuhalifa. Géant operates one hypermarket at 360 Mall, and six other supermarkets across the country, such as Carrefour and City Centre. The Sultan Center has 11 locations in Kuwait that target expatriate shoppers.[26] CityCentre has two hypermarkets in Kuwait, in Shuwaikh and Salmiya.[27] Carrefour has one hypermarket at The Avenues, in Shuwaikh, a few minutes out of downtown Kuwait City.
Lulu Hypermarket is the biggest hypermarket chain in GCC, and operates six outlets in Kuwait in Al Rai, Al Qurain, Al Dajeej, Salmiya, Egaila and Fahaheel.
The country's first hypermarket will be in a 100,000 square meter shopping center, in the capital Ashgabat, scheduled to open in 2014.[29] The complex will include the hypermarket, offices, a cinema, boutiques and a parking lot that will accommodate around 1400 cars. It is yet unknown to which retailer Turkmenistan's first hypermarket will belong.[30]
In the early 1960s, the first Superbazar (later Maxi GB and Bigg's) hypermarkets were created in Belgium in Auderghem, Anderlecht and Bruges.
In 2000, the French Carrefour Group took over the Belgian GB Group, all Maxi GB and Bigg's hypermarket stores were then rebranded Carrefour hypermarkets.
In 2007, there were 63 hypermarkets in the country. In May 2013, there were in total 67, of which were 45 regular Carrefour hypermarkets and 15 were new Carrefour Planet hypermarkets.[35] The Louis Delhaize Group has seven Cora throughout Wallonia and Brussels.
The largest hypermarket in Belgium is the Cora store in Anderlecht (Brussels) with a size of 15000m2.[36] The second largest is the Carrefour Planet store in the B-Park shopping center in Bruges (Flanders), which has a size of 14000m2.[37]
Currently, Bilka is the biggest chain of hypermarkets (operated by Dansk Supermarked); the second biggest chain was Kvickly Xtra, which were converted in 2009 to the regular Kvickly supermarkets.[39] Opening of new hypermarkets has decreased, as of 2010, due to restrictions on store sizes to protect the stores in city centers.
In France, hypermarkets are successful, and today, there are over 1000 hypermarkets in the country. Carrefour opened the first French and European hypermarket in 1963, in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris, and has 222 hypermarkets, as of 2013.[40] The largest hypermarket in France is the Carrefour store in Villiers-en-Bière, Seine-et-Marne (77) in the Île-de-France region, with an area of 25000m2.[41]
E.Leclerc opened its first hypermarket store in 1964 in Landerneau, near Brest, and is now the dominant hypermarket chain in France, with 489 hypermarkets.[42] Internationally, the French Carrefour is still the largest hypermarket chain in terms of size, and second-largest (after Walmart) in terms of revenue.
The other chains with the most hypermarkets in France are Géant (120 hypermarkets), Auchan (134) and Hyper U (61).[43]
In Corsica, hypermarkets are not as successful as in the rest of France; the only hypermarkets available in Corsica are Carrefour, Hyper U, E.Leclerc, Géant and Casino.
Mammouth – The first Mammouth store opened in 1969 near Troyes, and the last store closed in Lacroix-Saint-Ouen on 3 October 2009 after a 10-year delay to close the last store, as it was considered too small for an Auchan hypermarket, but too large for an ATAC supermarket.[45]
Rallye – first store opened in Brest in 1968; last closed in 2002
Record – operated from 1967 to 2008; the last Record store in Grosbliederstroff subsisted up until 3 June 2022, when it was converted into a Cora.
Géant Casino – most of its activities in continental France were sold off by Groupe Casino in 2023 to various other retailers, mainly Intermarché and Auchan. The 26 remaining stores that have not been taken over are set to permanently close on 30 September 2024. Four Géant stores are still active, all located in Corsica.
Cora – bought by Carrefour in July 2023. All stores are set to be converted into Carrefour hypermarkets by 17 November 2024.
In Germany, the biggest hypermarket brands are Real (METRO AG), Kaufland (which belongs to Lidl), and Marktkauf (which is a brand of AVA,[46] which in turn belongs to EDEKA). However, for various reasons, such as the strong competition by more focused discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, as well as legal restrictions on store size, pricing policy, and opening times, the hypermarket concept is not as widespread in Germany as in other countries.
Wal-Mart – moved into Germany in 1997 by taking over Wertkauf stores, followed by Interspar stores the year after, but failed by trying to use its American approach in Germany; in 2006 the remaining 85 hypermarkets were changed to Real hypermarkets.
Wertkauf – first store opened in 1958 in Karlsruhe, its Munich store was the largest hypermarket in Europe when it opened in 1968;[47] all stores were taken over by Wal-Mart in 1997
The biggest hypermarket presence is Tesco. Other hypermarkets include Auchan, Metro (Cash & Carry) and InterSpar, which operate several hypermarkets in the country.
There are several hypermarkets, like the homegrown chain of Maxima supermarkets in Lithuania, which range in sizes from neighborhood convenience stores to giant supercenters or hypermarkets that stock over 65,000 SKUs. The chain has 499 (as of 2013) stores open throughout Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria (branded as T-Market) and Poland (branded as Aldik Nova).
In the Netherlands hypermarkets were not a success; there were several attempts of retailers like Ahold and SHV but they all eventually failed.[48]
In 1971, Schuitema opened their first Dutch hypermarkets, Famila and Ahold with Miro in Vlissingen. In 1973, SHV Holdings opened Trefcenter. Shortly after, Maxis was created by De Bijenkorf. However, all these hypermarkets failed, and all closed in the 1980s.[49]
In the late 1990s, the American chain A&P started operating supermarkets and several hypermarkets by taking over old Maxis stores. The A&P chain wasn't very successful. C1000 took over the stores in 2000–2003, and the hypermarkets were converted to C1000 supermarkets.[50]
Since 2006, the German chain Famila (currently operating hypermarkets in the north of Germany and Italy) has tried to return in the Netherlands by opening a Dutch hypermarket in Emmen and then expanding in a few years to about 25 hypermarkets between 4,500 and 7,000 square meters. J. Bünting Beteiligungs AG from Leer (Germany) had therefore opened an office in Drachten. However, as of 2013 there were still no Famila stores in the country.[51][52]
On March 27, 2013, the largest supermarket of the Netherlands was opened by Jumbo in the city of Breda, called Jumbo Foodmarkt. With around 6,000 square meters, this store can be considered a hypermarket, but does not offer non-food products, which is unlike most hypermarkets.[53][54] The second Jumbo Foodmarkt was planned to open with a size of 7,000 square meters in the unfinished Focus-U-Park shopping center of 30,000 square meters in Steenwijk. However, permits for construction of the Focus U Park were retracted in 2020.
There are Coop Obs! owned by Coop Norge, which operates 24 hypermarkets through the country. Coop Norge also owns three Smart Club outlets (Warehouse club). Other hypermarkets include EuroSpar, a hypermarket brand of Spar, and ICA AB, with ICA Maxi stores.
In Portugal, there are a considerable number of hypermarket chains in operation, including Continente (the biggest and the first Portuguese chain to go international), Auchan, Pingo Doce, Lidl and Intermarché. Most of these chains also operate supermarkets and smaller stores.
There are currently two chains operating hypermarkets in the country. Coop Switzerland owns 13 hypermarkets throughout the West, with the biggest stores situated in Geneva and Fribourg.[62][63] The Migros chain has 11 MMM hypermarkets, including some in Lausanne, Basel, and two in France which are both near Geneva, one in Thoiry and Étrembières.[64][65]
Until 22 March 2013, Casino-Magro had several HyperCasino hypermarkets in Switzerland until the bankruptcy of the Magro group.[66]
Stores in the United States tend to be single-level enterprises with long operating hours; many of them, especially Walmart, are open 24 hours a day (except on certain holidays). The term "hypermarket" is not in general use in the US. Warehouse stores such as Costco and Sam's Club are popular alternatives to discount superstores (hypermarkets) for much the same shopping requirements, requiring an annual membership, purchase of larger sizes of packaged groceries, and a more limited selection of brands and styles.
Smith's Marketplace – nameplate for hypermarkets operated by another Kroger division, Smith's Food & Drug; in a 2004 corporate reorganization, Smith's took over the Utah operations of Fred Meyer
Carrefour – opened hypermarkets in Philadelphia and Voorhees Township, New Jersey, in 1988 and 1992 respectively; both closed in 1993. Some associates wore roller skates to facilitate moving about the large building. The Voorhees location now houses a Kohl's department store, a Raymour & Flanigan furniture store, and a Marshall's discount clothing store. The Philadelphia location (an outparcel of the Philadelphia Mills mall) housed a Walmart discount store (formerly a Bradlees; moved to a Supercenter on the former Ports Of The World/Boscov's/Steve & Barry's site) and still houses Dick's Sporting Goods and Raymour & Flanigan.
Leedmark – a joint venture involving E.Leclerc of France; operated a single 306,000-square-foot (28,400m2) store in Glen Burnie, Maryland from 1991 to 1994
The Real Superstore – a division of the defunct National Tea Company, the former US subsidiary of the Canadian Loblaws chain, which runs The Real Canadian Superstore (see listings for Canada in the Canadian section)
The hypermarket concept was not a success in Australia. Coles Myer had their own hypermarkets in the country with the introduction of Super Kmart in 1983, until the results were not positive. The concept was eventually shelved by 1989 to then divide all Super Kmart stores to have a separate Coles supermarket and a separate Kmart discount department store.[69]
In 1984 the South African retail chain Pick 'n Pay opened a hypermarket in the Brisbane suburb of Aspley. They had planned to expand to 10 hypermarkets however union bans imposed on South Africa by Australia at the time because of Apartheid prevented the other stores from opening. In 1995 the Australian branch of Pick 'n Pay was sold to Coles Myer and in late 2012 the Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket in Aspley would be closed and divided into an Aldi and Coles supermarkets as well as a Kmart discount department store.[70]
In New Zealand, The Warehouse operated three hypermarkets in the North Island between 2006 and 2009 under the "Extra" banner. These stores were closed due to poor performance.[72]
Carrefour Group, S.A., is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. It operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores. By 2024, the group had 14,000 stores in 40 countries. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the world by revenue.
A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term hypermarket was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet.
Discount stores offer 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.
Cora is a chain of hypermarkets owned by Louis Delhaize Group in France, Belgium and the French overseas territory of Mayotte. Cora was founded in 1974 by the supermarket holding Louis Delhaize Group after taking over three Carrefour hypermarkets located in Belgium. These three were originally established around 1969 as a joint venture franchise between two other companies: the Carrefour Group and the Delhaize Group.
A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The term "big-box" references the typical appearance of buildings occupied by such stores.
Auchan is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It was founded in 1961 by Gérard Mulliez and is owned by the Mulliez family, who has 95% stake in the company. With 354,851 employees, of which 261,000 have 5% stake in the company, it is the 35th largest employer in the world.
Hypermart USA was a demonstrator project operated by Walmart in the 1980s and 1990s, which attempted to combine groceries and general merchandise under one roof at a substantial discount. The hypermart concept was modeled after earlier efforts from other retailers, notably French retailers such as Auchan and Carrefour, and the Midwestern big retailer Meijer. At its peak, Hypermart USA had four locations with two located in Texas, one in Kansas, and one in Missouri.
Géant Casino was a hypermarket chain based in Saint-Étienne, France, part of the French retailing giant Groupe Casino. In 2022, the brand was gradually replaced by Casino #hyperFrais.
Big C, operated by Big C Supercenter Public Company Limited under Big C Retail Corporation Public Company Limited, is a grocery and general merchandising retailer headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. Big C is as of 2016 Thailand's second-largest hypermarket operator after Tesco Lotus. It has operations in five countries, namely Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Mein Real 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.
Carrefour Market is a French supermarket chain created in 2007, owned by the international retail group Carrefour, and has currently stores in France and several other countries, see below.
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.
↑ "E.Leclerc" (in French). Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013. 489 hypermarchés ou supermarchés Leclerc sont répertoriés sur Supermarche.com
↑ Gobin, Bertrand (September 2006). "Le dernier Mammouth va disparaitre"[The last Mammouth will disappear](PDF). Linéaires (in French) (217): 32, 33. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
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