17-05-31-Billa-Wien-Schwechat-RalfR-aDSC 1865

BILLA () is an Austrian supermarket chain that operates in

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

, Eastern and

Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...

. The company was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953. He sold his controlling interest to Germany's

REWE Group The REWE Group is a German diversified retail and tourism co-operative group based in Cologne, Germany. The name REWE comes from Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften", meaning "Western Buying Co-operatives Auditing Association". The mos ...

in 1996.

History

In 1953, Karl Wlaschek opened a discount perfume shop in the Vienna district of

Margareten Margareten (; bar, Magredn) is the fifth district of Vienna (german: 5. Bezirk, Margareten). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later.portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

Present locations

Billa operates stores in four European countries:

Austria

Austria is the chain's home market. As of March 2019 Billa had 1,069 stores in the country, second only to

SPAR SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

's 1,538.

Czech Republic

The first Billa supermarket in the Czech Republic was opened in Stránského Street,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, on 26 October 1991. The company has 215 stores in the country and employs over 6,000 staff. Billa stores have an average sales area of 900 m².

Slovakia

Billa opened its first store in Slovakia in 1993.

Bulgaria

The company opened its first supermarket in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in 2000 and has since then expanded to cover 44 Bulgarian cities, operating a total of 145 supermarkets as of July 2022.

Former locations

Billa operated in other countries in the past.

Russia

The first Billa supermarket in Russia opened in 2004. In 2008, the network for the first time went outside of Moscow. In the same year, thirteen Yum-Yum supermarkets in Moscow were purchased. In 2012, Billa bought the Russian supermarket chain Citistor (part of the former Ramstor chain). Since 2008, all new

Rewe Group The REWE Group is a German diversified retail and tourism co-operative group based in Cologne, Germany. The name REWE comes from Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften", meaning "Western Buying Co-operatives Auditing Association". The mos ...

stores in Russia in the "supermarket" format have been opened not under the Billa brand, but under the Biop (Billa Operations) brand. The reason is that only Billa Russia LLC had the right to develop the Billa brand in Russia, but one of the partners (22.5 %) — the Russian holding "Marta" - since the end of 2008 stopped investing in the development of the company due to the beginning of the bankruptcy procedure. In June 2010, this package was purchased from "Marta". On January 27, 2011, the official renaming of all the stores of the Biop chain to the Bill stores took place In 2018, 151 Billa stores were opened in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. In 2021, before the deal with Lenta, there were 161 stores operating across Russia mostly in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and surrounding cities. The holding company Lenta LLC announced on May 18 that it had struck a deal to acquire the supermarkets business of Billa Russia GmbH for 215 millions € in cash.

Ukraine

The first BILLA supermarket in Ukraine was opened on February 3, 2000 in Kyiv. Over the next 14 years, the company developed actively — in 2014, the number of its stores reached 39. BILLA supermarkets were represented in 16 cities in 9 regions of the country. Since 2015, the number of supermarkets has started to decrease. In June 2017, the company announced the sale of 9 of its stores in the regions at once. As of September 2017, the chain of supermarkets of the Austrian concern has decreased to 17 supermarkets, of which 12 were in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, two each in Dnipro and Odesa, and 1 in Zhytomyr. In March 2019, there were 30 BILLA supermarkets in Ukraine. On September 16, 2020, it became known that the Austrian company "Rewe International AG" sold the Ukrainian chain of supermarkets to the Lithuanian company, the founder of Novus Ukraine LLC, Consul Trade House UAB.

References

External links

Billa Austria

Billa Bulgaria

Billa Czech Republic

Billa Russia

Billa Slovakia

Billa Ukraine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billa (Supermarket) Austrian companies established in 1953 Austrian brands Convenience stores Defunct retail companies of Romania Retail companies established in 1953 Supermarkets of Austria Supermarkets of Bulgaria Supermarkets of Croatia Supermarkets of the Czech Republic Supermarkets of Ukraine Economy of Lower Austria