A supermarket is a self-serviceshop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday American English usage, however, "grocery store" is often casually used as a synonym for "supermarket". The supermarket retail format first appeared around 1930 in the United States as the culmination of almost two decades of retail innovations, and began to spread to other countries after extensive worldwide publicity in 1956.
The supermarket typically has places for fresh meat, fresh produce, dairy, deli items, baked goods, and similar foodstuffs. Shelf space is also reserved for canned and packaged goods and for various non-food items such as kitchenware, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies. Some supermarkets also sell other household products that are consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where permitted), medicine, and clothing, and some sell a much wider range of non-food products: DVDs, art supplies, sporting equipment, board games, and seasonal items (e.g., Christmaswrapping paper, Easter eggs, school uniforms, Valentine's Day themed gifts, Mother's Day gifts, Father's Day gifts and Halloween).
A larger full-service supermarket combined with a department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket. Other services may include those of banks, cafés, childcare centers/creches, insurance (and other financial services), mobile phone sales, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies, and gas stations. If the eatery in a supermarket is substantial enough, the facility may be called a "grocerant", a portmanteau of "grocery" and "restaurant".
The traditional supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level. It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently the convenience of shopping hours that extend into the evening or even 24 hours of the day. Supermarkets usually allocate large budgets to advertising, typically through newspapers and television. They also present elaborate in-shop displays of products. (Full article...)
Mercadona (Valencian:[meɾkaˈðɔna], Spanish:[meɾkaˈðona]) is a Spanish supermarket chain, with 1,618 stores across Spain and 61 in Portugal (as of 04/2025).
The company was founded by Francisco Roig Ballester and his wife, Trinidad Alfonso Mocholi in 1977. Mercadona began as a small butcher's shop in Tavernes Blanques, a village in Valencia. Juan Roig assumed the role of CEO in 1981, and the company has since expanded nationwide. (Full article...)
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK retailer of groceries for most of the 20th century. In 1995, Tesco became the market leader when it overtook Sainsbury's, which has since been ranked second or third: it was overtaken by Asda from 2003 to 2014, and again for one month in 2019. In 2018, a planned merger with Asda was blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority over concerns of increased prices for consumers. (Full article...)
The Paper Plus Group is a group of three brands in New Zealand. The group is a three brand co-operative franchise business model.
Two of the stores, Paper Plus and Take Note, sell books, stationery, cards, magazines and giftware, while Office Spot focuses on home office and business supplies. (Full article...)
Whitcoulls 2011 Limited, or simply Whitcoulls, is a major New Zealand book, stationery, gift, games and toy retail chain. Formerly known as Whitcombe & Tombs, it has 54 stores nationally. Whitcombe & Tombs was founded in 1888, and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. The companies merged in 1971 to form Whitcoulls. (Full article...)
Image 6
Promodès is a former Frenchgroup of retailers. It was owned up to 56% by the Halley family. Paul-Auguste Halley, which was a simple grocer in the Manche in the 1950s, had the idea of importing the concept of supermarkets in France.
With his two sons, Paul-Louis and Robert, he founded the group Promodis (future Promodès) in 1961 in Caen (Calvados) by combining several Norman families of wholesalers: the Halley's, the Duval-Lemonnier and the Marette. (Full article...)
Bakers Delight is an Australian-owned multinational bakery franchise chain, with franchisors in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. There are over 700 stores worldwide, with Australia having over 500 stores. (Full article...)
Image 9
Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian multinationalretail and finance company, primarily known for the operation of its retail chain Woolworths Supermarkets across Australia, Woolworths (previously known as Countdown) in New Zealand and its discount department store Big W. Headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, it is the largest company in Australia by revenue and number of employees, and the second-largest in New Zealand.
Founded in Sydney in 1924 as variety retailer Woolworths Limited, the company entered the New Zealand market in 1929 and has traded in every Australian state and territory since 1960. Woolworths experienced steady growth throughout the 20th century and began to diversify its business, closing the last of its variety stores in the 1980s to focus on its portfolio of other retail brands. Since 2012, Woolworths has undergone significant consolidation, divesting its shopping centre, electronics retailing, home improvement, fuel retailing, liquor retailing and hospitality businesses to concentrate on supermarket retail. (Full article...)
Image 10
Kvickly was in the beginning a Swedish food market chain owned by the 'consumers organization' ('Konsumentföreningen') in Sweden. The first store opened in the 1950s in the Stockholm area. The company name was changed to Domus in Sweden in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the stores became superstores selling more than food.
The first Kvickly store was opened by FDB in Denmark in 1961. In Denmark, the sister chain remains Kvickly, which has a large selection of items, and were in 2010 named by the Danish Ministry of Health as the easiest place in Denmark to buy healthy food. Kvickly's headquarters are in Albertslund,and it has 81 stores. (Full article...)
Image 11
Coccinelle was the stage name of Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (1931–2006), a French transsexual actress and entertainer.
The EuroSPAR name is used in Europe whereas SuperSPAR is in use in Australia and South Africa. These are mid-sized supermarkets, designed to fit in a niche between convenience shops and traditional supermarkets. (Full article...)
Foodland has established itself as an well-known brand in the South Australian retail sector and directly employs over 7,000 staff and indirectly more than 1,500 South Australian staff. There were 96 stores covering South Australia and Broken Hill in 2023. (Full article...)
Image 15
Mountain Designs is an outdoor clothing and equipment business based in Australia. They sell hiking, rockclimbing and general outdoor and recreational equipment. The company stocks a variety of international and local brands, as well as their own brands of clothing, accessories, sleepwear and bags. (Full article...)
BP's origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909, established as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran. In 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954, adopted the name British Petroleum. BP acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio in 1978. Formerly majority state-owned, the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987. BP merged with Amoco in 1998, becoming BP Amoco p.l.c., and acquired ARCO, Burmah Castrol and Aral AG shortly thereafter. The company's name was shortened to BP p.l.c. in 2001. (Full article...)
Image 17
Pita Pit is a quick-service restaurant franchise serving pita sandwiches with fresh vegetables, grilled meat and sauces. Worldwide, it has two separate owners. Its franchising rights for the United States and its Territories are owned by Pita Pit USA 4.0, Inc., headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The remainder of the franchising rights (for Canada and the rest of the world, excluding the US) are owned by Foodtastic, which is headquartered in Kingston, Ontario. (Full article...)
The parent company for Londis Ireland is wholesaler retail grocery franchise operator BWG Foods UC. In December 2012, the company has an estimated net worth of £319 million. (Full article...)
In France, the chain was bought in 2005 by the Ed brand of the Carrefour group. In 2010, it operated approximately 3,000 stores across 6 countries in Europe. In May 2014, Penny is present in Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania and soon in Turkey. After taking over 7 stores in Liguria from Tuodì in October 2017 for €9.2 million, it is present in Italy with 357 points of sale distributed in 17 regions, served by 7 distribution centers. (Full article...)
Image 22
Australian Liquor Marketers is the liquor arm of Metcash. It distributes liquor to businesses around Australia and New Zealand, and runs a franchise of almost 2900 liquor stores operating as The Bottle-O, Cellarbrations, IGA Liquor, Duncans, Thirsty Camel, Big Bargain, Porters and Merchants Liquor.
The company has 13 distribution centres across every state and territory of Australia, and a distribution centre in New Zealand. It is Australia's largest supplier of liquor to independently owned liquor retailers and largest broad-range liquor wholesaler, supplying to 12,000 liquor customers. (Full article...)
Image 23
The Just Group owns and operates a total of seven retail brands: the clothing chains Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Jacqui E, Portmans, Dotti, Peter Alexander Sleepwear, and the stationery chain Smiggle. The group has over 1,000 stores throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The group is part of the ASX-listed investment company Premier Investments. (Full article...)
Image 24
Tesco plc (/ˈtɛs.koʊ/) is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Sir Jack Cohen in Hackney, London, in 1919. In 2011, it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in the world measured by revenues. It is the market leader of groceries in the UK (where it has a market share of around 28.4%). As well as the United Kingdom, Tesco has stores in Czechia, Ireland, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Since the 1960s, Tesco has diversified into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture, toys, petrol, software, financial services, telecommunications and internet services. In the 1990s, Tesco re-positioned itself from being a downmarket high-volume low-cost retailer, attempting to attract a range of social groups with its low-cost "Tesco Value" range (launched 1993) and premium "Tesco Finest" range. (Full article...)
BritishsupermarketchainMorrisons announces that it will permanently close 52 cafés and 17 stores as part of cost-cutting measures, with the loss of at least 365 jobs expected. (BBC News)
Do you have a question about supermarket-related content on Wikipedia that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
