Eroski is a Spanish

supermarket chain 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 ...

headquartered in Elorrio, Basque Country. It is run as a

worker-consumer hybrid A Worker-consumer hybrid cooperative is, as the name implies, a mix of the two more common forms of cooperatives, the worker cooperative and the consumer cooperative. In this type of cooperative the power is divided between the workers and consume ...

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

within the Mondragón Corporation group, with nearly 1,000 outlets spread across Spain (excluding franchises). The establishments vary in size from the largest

hypermarkets A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery store, grocery lines and product (bu ...

, simply named 'Eroski' (of which there are 75 stores, including 40 with

petrol station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

s), down to smaller 'Eroski Center' stores (473, including 2 petrol stations). There are also 219 'Eroski City' outlets and 234 'Eroski Viajes'

travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...

centres. The group's total sales floor space is approximately . The name Eroski is a combination of the Basque words "erosi" (to buy) and "toki" (place).

History

The company was founded in 1969 in the regions of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

and

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

as a

between ten supermarkets in the region. Its headquarters are located in Elorrio, Biscay.

Franchises

''Aliprox'' supermarkets are not owned by Eroski, despite having a similar logo. Instead, Aliprox is the

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

for

franchises Franchise may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Media franchise, a collection of related creative works, such as films, video games, books, etc., particularly in North American usage * "Franchise" (short story), a 1955 short story ...

. These outlets are independently owned, but still maintain the same product ranges, sales policies and general standard expected throughout the

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

. There are presently 553 franchised outlets.

Finances

As of mid-2016, Eroski's operating income is 45% higher than in the first semester of the 2015 and kept improving up to 54 million Euros *Eroski has 442 new generation shops, 23 hypermarkets and 419 supermarkets, growing by 7% in sales on average *Turnover keeps stable at 2,965 million Euros *Investments reach 45 million Euros, mainly aimed at shop refurbishment and information systems *It reduced its financial debt by 169 million Euros during the first six months of the year *Between February and July this year, EROSKI generated 625 new jobs in its owned and franchised shops *The parent cooperative EROSKI S. Coop. reached a profit of 8.8 million Euros

Staff

*In 2004, staff numbers exceeded 30,000 for the first time. *Nearly 7,000 new positions have been created in the last four years.

Growth

Brand

These names replace the former hierarchy of 'Eroski', 'Maxi', 'Consum' and 'Charter', the latter of which was the name reserved for smaller franchise stores. This

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

took place during the course of 2003-2004 in an effort to re-focus the company as the many different names confused customers. Indeed, regardless of the name over the door,

customers In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product, or an idea, obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or an e ...

inevitably referred to the shops as 'Eroski', not Maxi or Charter. Under the new name, consumers are referring to the company correctly.

By country

Spain

In 2007, Eroski purchased Caprabo, adding around 500 supermarkets to the chain.

France

Having taken a strong grip over the Spanish mainland, especially in the Basque Country from where the company originates. It is now expanding into

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. They have three

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

s, eighteen supermarkets and seven petrol stations in the country at this time. Alongside this, they also own the

Forum Sport Forum Sport is a Dutch football club from Voorburg. Its main squad plays since 2013 in the Eerste Klasse The Eerste Klasse () started as the 1st tier of football in the Netherlands and is now the 6th tier. The league is divided into ten division ...

store chain, 172

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

shops and six cash and carry outlets. A merger with the

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

-based co-operative '' Consum'' lasted only a few years. In 2005, each went their own way. Figures correct as of July 2005.

United Kingdom

As of 2022, Eroski has four stores in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

References

External links

Eroski Group Website
(Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician)
Consumer Eroski
magazine. {{Authority control Supermarkets of Spain Food retailers Distribution (marketing) Mondragon Corporation Retail companies established in 1969 Spanish companies established in 1969 Companies established in 1969 1969 in Spain Biscay Basque companies Consumers' cooperatives