Edeka

The Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation, currently holding a market share of 26%. Founded in 1898, it consists today of several cooperatives of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation Edeka Zentrale AG & Co KG, headquarters in Hamburg. There are approximately 4,100 stores with the Edeka nameplate that range from small corner stores to hypermarkets. On November 16, 2007 Edeka reached an agreement with Tengelmann (known for A&P in the US) to purchase a 70% majority stake in Tengelmann's Plus discounter store division.

History

The cooperative was founded in 1898 as the E.d.K. (Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler). In 1913, it was renamed to its current name, Edeka - a phonetic expansion of the previous abbreviation. The Edekabank was founded in 1914, and from 1923 on central billing was introduced. After World War II, the reconstruction of the store network was led from the new Hamburg central offices. In 1972, the cooperatives changed structure and formed twelve regional companies, the umbrella corporation and the Edekabank converting from a cooperative to a public limited company.

Brand names

Operational names of these stores include:

• Edeka nah und gut ("close and good") - Stores up up to 400m² (4300 sq ft), mostly found in smaller municipalities
• Edeka aktiv markt ("active mart") - Mostly privately run supermarkets between 400m² up to 800m² (4300 - 8600 sq ft), mostly......
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