BILLA is a European supermarket chain originating in Austria, a market where the brand maintains its largest presence with more than 1000 stores.[1] The company, which was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953, is currently owned by Germany's REWE Group.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Headquarters | Wiener Neudorf, Austria |
Number of locations | 3.645 stores (2014) |
Key people | Volker Hornsteiner, Josef Siess |
| Products | Supermarkets |
| Revenue |  € 13.02 billion (2014) |
| Owner | REWE International AG |
Number of employees | 76.174 (2014) |
| Website | www.billa.at |
The supermarkets' name is derived from a contraction of BILliger LAden, German for 'inexpensive shop' [2]
Billa in Europe
Billa operates stores in these 9 European countries:
| Country | No. of stores |
|---|---|
| 1,000+ | |
| 205 | |
| 130 | |
| 84 | |
| 80 | |
| 72 | |
| 49 | |
| 32 |
The stores in Hungary were sold to Spar.
Billa in Bulgaria
The company opened its first supermarket in Bulgaria in 2000 and has since then expanded to cover 35 Bulgarian cities, operating a total of 88 supermarkets. Several others are in construction or in planning. The new Billa supermarkets will be in Veliko Tarnovo, Sandanski, Ruse, Sofia and there will be a second BILLA supermarket in Sliven. The newest addition to the network is a supermarket located in the underpass of metro station "St. Climent Ohridski" in the centre of Sofia. Three new outlets are to be opened until the end of September 2009 bringing the total number of shops to 50.
In June 2006, the roof of one of the stores in Sofia collapsed during a storm. There were no injuries reported. There was an investigation to determine the reason for the poor quality of the construction work and whether the same problems are present at other Billa stores in the country.[3] Starting October 31, 2007, 11 people are going to be tried for the collapsed roof. If convicted, It is expected that they will be fined up to 1,000 leva (approx. US$700) each.
|
Billa in Romania
Billa is owned by Rewe Group, which also operates XXL, Penny Market and Selgros outlets in Romania. The company uses the tagline Billa zilnic - Cel mai bun pentru mine ("Billa daily - The best for me") and opened its first store in Bucharest in 1999. Since then, Billa has turned into one of the most well represented supermarket chains, with 80 stores (as of October 2013) in Romania.[4]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.wirtschaftsblatt.at/archiv/unternehmen/billa-eroeffnet-1000-filiale-54249/index.do , from May 30, 2006 (german)
- ^ http://www.billa.at/Metanavigation/Unternehmen/Geschichte/dd_bi_subpage.aspx
- ^ "Prosecutor: BILLA Stores in Bulgaria Are Dangerous". standartnews.com. 2006-11-27.
- ^ "BILLA inaugurează un magazin în Timișoara și ajunge la 80 de unități în România" (in Romanian). retail-fmcg.ro. 30 October 2013.