Irma (supermarket)

Irma A/S is a Danish supermarket chain. It was founded in 1886 as a small grocery selling eggs in Ravnsborggade in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. The founder was named Carl Schepler. The chain is the next oldest groceries chain in the world, beaten by Marks & Spencer. As of August 2006, the chain has 71 stores, most of which are located in the Metropolitan Copenhagen area. It is part of the Coop Danmark group.

Concept

Irma is quality-oriented mainly aiming for quality-conscious and environment-aware customers by focusing on fresh and organic products as well as packaging. Therefore, the stores have a great variety of organic products compared to other Danish supermarket, and packaging containing PVC and excessive amounts of aluminium are banned from the shelves. The same goes for chlorine-bleached products.

In 2006, Irma had discounts on many organic products, leading to a world record with over 40% of their sale being organic.

Expansion and future plans

Irma has almost always only been located in the Capital Region, with few exceptions back in the 80s where Irma tried to located themselves in Odense, but without luck. But in April 2008 Irma opened their first stores outside the Capital Region, according to a deal with the department store chain Magasin du Nord, which made them take over their grocery departments, Mad & Vin (lit. Food and Wine) in their stores in Odense and Århus.

External links

* [http://irma.dk Official site]

References