Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos (Άλφα-Βήτα Βασιλόπουλος) or simply AB is a supermarket chain based in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Basic Description
Basic Description

History

The company was established in 1939 in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, when brothers Gerasimos and Haralambos Vassilopoulos opened a small

grocery A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

shop, on Voulis Street, in downtown

. A few years later, they opened a second, larger shop on

Stadiou Street Stadiou Street ( Greek: Οδός Σταδíου, ''Odós Stadíou'', "Stadium Street") is Athens' major street linking the Omonoia and Syntagma Squares. It runs diagonally and is one-way from northwest to southeast. The street is named after th ...

, in Athens. In 1969, Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos S.A. was formed by Gerasimos & Haralambos Vasilopoulos and Haralambos Poriazis. In 1970, the first 'real'

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

was established in the Faros area of

Psychiko Psychiko ( ) is a town and a suburb in the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filothei-Psychiko, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal ...

, Athens. By 1989, AB had opened nine supermarkets in the greater Athens area. In 1991, AB was listed on the

Athens Stock Exchange The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; , ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five markets operating in ATHEX: regulated securities mark ...

. In the same year, the first AB MEGA supermarket was opened, in the area of

Hellinikon Elliniko (, meaning 'Hellenic' or 'Greek') is a coastal municipality in the Attica region and a southern suburban town in the Athens agglomeration in Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality of Ellin ...

, close to the old Athens Hellinikon International Airport. In 1992, a new AB MEGA was built on the

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

. In the meanwhile, AB was acquired by the Belgian retail company " Delhaize Group" (merged with

Ahold Koninklijke Ahold N.V. was a Dutch multinational retail company based in Zaandam, Netherlands. Founded in 1887 by Albert Heijn Sr., the company initially began as a single grocery store in Oostzaan and became the largest grocery chain in the ...

to form

Ahold Delhaize Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (in Dutch language, Dutch literally "Royal Ahold Delhaize"), commonly known as Ahold Delhaize, is a Dutch-Belgian multinational retail and wholesale holding company. Its name comes from the 2016 merger of two comp ...

in 2015). In 1994, AB was the first supermarket company in Greece to introduce the barcode system at its cashiers. Between 1995 and 1998, AB opened a large warehouse, in

Mandra Mandra (), is a town and former municipality in West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mandra-Eidyllia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 205.770&n ...

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

and in 2009 a larger one for fresh and perishables, in Oinofyta, Voiotia. By 2000, AB had 53 shops in 11 cities in Greece. On 16 October 2000, AB acquired the TROFO and ENA Cash-and-Carry supermarket chains. In 2009, ΑΒ acquired the retail chain Κoryfi, enhancing both its network by 10 stores and its presence in Thrace.

References

External links

Alfa-Vita Vassilopoulos
{{Ahold Delhaize Supermarkets of Greece Greek brands Ahold Delhaize Retail companies established in 1939 Companies based in Athens Companies listed on the Athens Exchange Greek companies established in 1939

History

See also

References

External links