Pilersuisoq is a chain of all-purpose

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

s in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, a major division of the

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

KNI conglomerate. Like its parent company, it is based in

Sisimiut Sisimiut (), also known by its Danish name Holstensborg or Holsteinsborg, is the capital and largest city of the Qeqqata municipality, the second-largest city in Greenland, and the largest Arctic city in North America.The term 'city' is loos ...

(Holsteinsborg), the second-largest town in Greenland. Lars Behrendt is the administrative director of the company since 2008.

Operations

The chain operates 64 outlets in all small settlements in the country, as well as smaller towns which are not, except for Aasiaat, covered by the

Pisiffik Pisiffik A/S is a chain of Greenlandic stores. The company is the largest privately owned commercial company in Greenland, and is a subsidiary jointly owned by NorgesGruppen, the Norwegian grocery wholesaling group, the Danish investment company ...

or Brugsen

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 ...

chains. The stores in remote settlements are supplied by

Royal Arctic Line Royal Arctic Line Aktieselskab, A/S (RAL) or Royal Arctic is a seaborne freight company in Greenland, wholly owned by the Naalakkersuisut, Government of Greenland. It was formed in 1993, and is headquartered in Nuuk. History Royal Arctic Line A ...

but the intervals between the shipments are long, with some settlements like

Ittoqqortoormiit Ittoqqortoormiit (; ), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020, and it has been described as one of the most remote settlements on Earth. The former ...

and

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditiona ...

only served twice a year.

Post and banking

Pilersuisoq stores have an integrated

Post Greenland Tusass (formerly Tele-Post) is a Greenlandic postal and telecommunications company dating back to 1879. Tusass is the largest telecommunications company in Greenland. The company's headquarters are located in Nuuk. The company is divided into th ...

office, the employees of which also process bank operations on behalf of the

Bank of Greenland A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...

Duty-free

Pilersuisoq also operates the

duty-free A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...

stores at the

Kangerlussuaq Airport Kangerlussuaq Airport (, , formerly ''Søndre Strømfjord Lufthavn'' in Danish) is an airport in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It was originally built as Sondrestrom Air Base (Bluie West- ...

and

Narsarsuaq Airport Narsarsuaq Airport () is an airport located in Narsarsuaq, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Along with Nuuk Airport and Kangerlussuaq Airport, it is one of three civilian airports in Greenland capable of serving ...

, although as of August 2010 the future of all duty-free stores in Greenland (including a stand at

Kulusuk Airport Kulusuk Airport () is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. History The airstrip was built by US defense in 1956, in orde ...

) is uncertain due to budget cuts considered by the Government of Greenland. By 2013 the pre-2010 rules regarding duty-free sales had been restored.

District heliports

Passenger

check-in Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, port, seaport or event. Office check-in Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriv ...

for

Air Greenland Air Greenland Aktieselskab, A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly and Greenlandair) is the flag carrier of Greenland, owned by the Naalakkersuisut, Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 28 aircraft, including a single Airbus A330-800 airli ...

helicopter flights from the settlement

heliport A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, powered lift, and various types of vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also hav ...

s is performed by Pilersuisoq employees at the local store, in the Post Greenland counter. The passenger does not receive a

boarding pass A boarding pass or boarding card is a document provided by an airline during airport check-in, giving a passenger permission to enter the restricted area of an airport (also known as the airside portion of the airport) and to board the airp ...

, but the baggage is tagged, unless the passenger does not connect in a local helicopter hub. Baggage is transported in a

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

snowscooter A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

between the heliport and Pilersuisoq store.

References

{{Companies of Greenland Retail companies of Greenland Companies based in Sisimiut Government-owned companies of Greenland

Operations

Post and banking

Duty-free

District heliports

See also

References