Real (hypermarket)
Real, guided by the real, - Group Holding GmbH, is a grocery retail chain Metro AG, which operates several hundred supermarkets in Europe. Around 75 percent of sales are generated by food. Real also offers a wide range of household goods, electrical appliances, books, media, textiles and footwear, sports goods and stationery.
In addition to branded products offered several trademarks: TiP ( " Jazzy in the price " - discount prices), real, - Quality, real, - Selection and real, - Bio. Real is co-founder of the customer loyalty program Payback.
In Germany is the real, - Hypermarket GmbH, located in Alzey the operating company of the company.
- 2.1 locations
- 2.2 employees
- 2.3 Sales and profits
- 3.1 minced meat scandal 2005
- 3.2 self-checkout
- 3.3 RFID technology
History
Real was created in 1992 from the merger of the market chains Divi, Bazaar, Continent, esbella and real purchase. Later, Massa, Massa- mobile, master, BLV, Huma and Suma followed. Each of these companies was for decades regionally highly successful. 1998 were added 94 hypermarkets of Allkauf and 20 hypermarkets of the South German war Tree Group. In May 1999, five Extra supermarkets to Real.
2000 tried the Metro Group with the cost reduction program " Strategy 2006 " to make its domestic subsidiary profitable again. These personnel costs in a high double-digit million amount should be saved. The management was " Just Procure 's you" exchanged in connection with a scandal over tainted ground beef and the moderate success of the expensive advertising campaign in 2005.
Acquisition of Walmart Germany
On 28 July 2006 it was announced that the Metro Group - in the wake of the withdrawal of the U.S. Walmart Group from Germany - German takes over all 85 Walmart stores, where the larger branches under the name Real and the smaller under the extra names are out. With the closure of the headquarters of Walmart in Wuppertal Germany about 600 jobs were affected in the third quarter of 2007. Moreover, since 14 of these branches had no economic perspective, they were abandoned. Affected the locations in Aachen, Mountain Kamen, Delmenhorst, Gelsenkirchen, Gunthersdorf, Hagen, Hannover- Wülfel, Nordenham, Pattensen, Ritterhude Platjenwerbe, Salzgitter-Bad and Wilhelmshaven. The branches Dusseldorf and Sigmaringen were already closed in June 2006.
Restructuring 2006-2010
Since autumn 2006, several real and Extra stores nationwide were closed or sold, what with the markets Dortmund -Nord, Guben, Überlingen, Magdeburg, Pulheim (takeover from 1 July 2008 by Kaufland ), wood Minden ( acquisition from 2008 through Kaufland ), Bochum, Olpe (extra - market, delivery to Kaufland ) and GER ( extra - market ) was known.
End of October 2007 opened a new branch in Lübeck, which had opened the first German department store from Monday to Saturday until 24 clock. This market is also noted in the review, to pay wages below the retail tariff.
In November 2007, some 3,000 workers from 80 real- branches participating in strikes, which the services union Verdi had proclaimed in the North Rhine-Westphalian retail. The union demanded 4.5 percent more content and a minimum of 1,500 euros for full-time employees. Controversy exists in addition to the required by employers deletion of late and night surcharges.
On January 16, 2008 it was announced that the Rewe Group would acquire the hypermarket chain Extra 1 July 2008 by the Metro AG. The name Extra should disappear in the second half of 2008 with the re-flagging of the markets at Rewe. The franchise brands Comet and Bolle, under which 61 of the 306 markets ran were against it initially continued. The franchise headquarters went to the Rewe Group. Rewe wanted to strengthen its market position by purchasing at retail and take over the 9,700 employees. The Federal Cartel Office approved the proposed purchase unconditionally.
On 18 March 2008 the CEO of the Metro Group Eckhard Cordes said that more will be sold or closed 40 of 349 Real - department stores, as these markets have recorded 2007 total losses of up to 50 million euros.
By early 2010, the Metro Group intends to dispose of a further 27 loss-making real- sites, including markets in Berlin, Rostock ( 28 February 2010) and Bremen. In January 2011, the Metro Group announced the Real- logistics service center ( LSZ ) in Kamen close with around 120 employees and combine the accounts into three globally " shared service centers " with locations in Alzey in Germany, Poland and India.
Sale of the business to Eastern Europe Auchan
The French retailer Auchan took over in the course of 2013 the real markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Auchan takes over the operative business and real estate in Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine for 1.1 billion euros. After the acquisition, the markets will operate under the name Auchan. The approval of the Polish competition authority was the end of 2013 still pending.
A total of 91 supermarkets and 13 shopping centers in Russia and Romania to change hands. Real made 2011 sales of almost 2.6 billion euros (excluding VAT) in the four countries mentioned. 20,000 Real employees worked in these countries. The German and the Turkish supermarkets are not affected by the takeover.
Business
Locations
The real, - Hypermarket GmbH (formerly Real - purchase), located in Alzey belongs to the in Dusseldorf -based real, - Group Holding GmbH - which in turn is a subsidiary also based in Dusseldorf Metro Group - and operates 312 department stores in Germany and 109 in Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine (March 2013).
As of 2003, the real and Extra stores were closely linked; Parts of extra renamed to Real and sold 119 Extra stores in the Rewe Group. In 2004 there were still 436 Extra stores with 12,600 employees and achieved a net revenue of 2.8 billion euros. In 2005, the number of sites of the two chains in Germany decreased from 708 to 552 markets. Another 40 markets were abroad. In March 2006, the first Romanian market was opened in Timişoara, on 16 October 2009 was followed by the first market in Ukraine.
On 28 July 2006, the Metro AG announced the acquisition of the 85 German department stores of the U.S. company Walmart, who retired from Germany.
The markets are organized into four separate companies, which fulfill different purposes: the real, - SB Warehouse GmbH operates most stores. The second real, - hypermarket GmbH was formed by the acquisition of the business in Germany from Walmart by renaming the corresponding locations are kept separately until today. The Third real, - hypermarket GmbH with currently two markets, the smallest since the company was founded to serve the employees do not have to pay for the retail tariff. Newly opened markets, such as in Lübeck and Mülheim an der Ruhr, should be out by this company. The plan was, however, after a bitter dispute with the union Verdi rejected the negotiated wage introduced in the third GmbH again, which was merged on 1 January 2009 in the first GmbH. The Fourth real, - hypermarket GmbH comprises 27 sites that seem to apply as closure candidates.
Real and Extra employed in 2007 together about 45,000 employees, including 35,000 in Germany (Extra existed since March 16, 2009 not more). In 2009, the number of employees was approximately 58,000. Abroad, the employee count of around 6,750 in 2008 rose to 7,070 employees.
Sales and profits
After the increase in revenues by 2001 Real had since suffered a steadily shrinking sales. In 2011, sales totaled approximately 11.2 billion euros, accounting for about 17 % of the total turnover of the Metro Group. EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) in 2011 reached 134 million euros by 132 million euros in 2010.
Criticism
Minced meat scandal 2005
The Oldenburg prosecutor determined in March 2005 for violations of the Food Act and the minced Regulation. In two stores, in Laatzen and in Hanover, staff were by a former employee with a " hidden camera " been caught as they repackaged disposed above the ground beef durability and labeled to make it to sell in the market. The investigation was then extended to four stores. Investigative acts were based on the suspicion that the management could have controlled the repackaging of meat centrally. After a thorough review of this suspicion has not been confirmed, so here are individual acts of employees obvious spot.
Self-checkout
Real has opened some stores in addition to the conventional POS self-service checkouts, so jobs can be saved. At the four self-checkout, customers can scan, pack and pay cash or cashless their goods themselves. They are supplemented by a so-called " self-checkout - space ", track from which an employee, the operations at the cash registers and can authorize, for example, the sale of alcoholic beverages or other products whose sale is subject to a statutory limitation.
RFID technology
As of 2 November 2004, the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been gradually introduced into the markets and will be expanded. RFID tags on the goods offer complete control of the flow of goods through non-contact identification, control and tracking along the entire process chain. The new technologies and systems offer customers, retail and consumer goods industries significant simplification of orders, storage and transport. Criticism of the RFID technology involves the privacy aspect, even after the sale, as well as the traceability of goods - by entrained cards - including the customer itself. In addition, a long-term loss of part time jobs in the low-wage segment is expected.