Billa (supermarket)

"This article is about the company. For the Indian movies see Billa (1980) starring Rajinikanth or Billa (2007) starring Ajith Kumar."Infobox Company
company_name = BILLA AG
company_
company_type = Subsidiary of REWE-Zentral
foundation = 1953
location = Wiener Neudorf, Austria
key_people = Wolfgang Wimmer, CEO Stefan Gesselbauer, CFO
industry = Retail
products = Supermarkets
revenue =
num_employees = 16.320 (2007)
homepage = [http://www.billa.at/ www.billa.at]

Billa is a European supermarket chain operating in numerous countries, originating in Austria. It is owned by Germany's Rewe Group.

Billa in Austria

Billa was founded in 1953 by Karl Wlaschek under the name WKW ("Warenhandel Karl Wlaschek"). The name "Billa", standing for "Billiger Laden" ("cheap store"), was adopted in 1960. The chain grew quickly during the following decades, with revenue topping one billion Austrian shillings in 1970. In 1996, Billa was acquired by Rewe, and, following the demise of the Konsum and Meinl groups, became Austria's largest supermarket chain, with a 35.8% market share in 2002. In some areas of the country, particularly in Vienna, Billa is almost a monopoly, as hardly any supermarket other than Billa or its other franchises ("Merkur", "Mondo/Penny", "Emma" and "Bipa") can be found.

While typical Billa supermarkets are urban stores of about 450 square meters per outlet, the group's hypermarkets operate under the brand name "Merkur".

Billa in Europe

Billa operates stores in these 10 European countries:

Billa's stores are generally referred to as hypermarkets, due to their size and accompanying infrastructure. Billa's newest Bucharest store has an area of 2000 sq. metres, with a parking lot for 200 cars, employs 100 people and stocks 7,500 products. Despite the sizable investment, Billa's Romanian operations recorded a profit of 5.99 million new lei (1.6 million euro) in 2001. A 2001 plan called for 50 stores by 2005. While this goal was not achieved, the supermarket is expanding at a very quick rate.

Gallery

References

ee also

*List of supermarkets, Supermarkets in Romania, XXL, Selgros

External links

* [http://www.billa.at Billa Austria]
* [http://www.billa.bg Billa Bulgaria]
* [http://www.billa.hr Billa Croatia]
* [http://www.billa.cz Billa Czech Republic]
* [http://www.billa.it BIlla Italy]
* [http://www.billa.pl Billa Poland]
* [http://www.billa.ro Billa Romania]
* [http://www.billa.ru Billa Russia]
* [http://www.billa.sk Billa Slovakia]
* [http://www.billa.ua Billa Ukraine]