Kaufland
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Neckarsulm, Germany |
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Key people
|
Frank Lehmann, CEO |
| Products | Discount hypermarkets |
| Parent | Schwarz Gruppe |
| Website | www.kaufland.com |
Kaufland [ˈkaʊ̯flant] is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl and Handelshof. It opened its first store in 1984 in Neckarsulm and quickly expanded to become a leader in what was formerly West Germany. The chain operates over 1,000 stores in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
The history of Kaufland began when Joseph Schwarz entered the Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co. at Heilbronn as a shareholder in 1930, which was then renamed Lidl & Schwarz KG. In subsequent years it was the aim of the company to expand its range and become a food wholesale.
After the Second World War, the company was rebuilt: in 1954 it entered the A & O-chain. With Handels- und Fruchthof Heilbronn GmbH the first regional warehouse was opened in northern Wurttemberg. In 1964 the company expanded its range of products by opening a meat department. In 1968 the first Handelshof discount store was opened in Backnang, and in 1977 at the same place a hypermarket of the same name was established. After the death of Joseph Schwarz in 1977 his son Dieter Schwarz took over the management of the company. In 1984 the first Kaufland hypermarket was opened in Neckarsulm, the town being the seat of the company's headquarters since 1972.
After the reunification of Germany the Kaufland chain expanded into the Eastern German states and opened numerous markets. The first East German Kaufland store was opened in Meissen in 1990, the first Kaufmarkt SB Warenhaus opened in 1994 in Zwickau. The first department store outside of Germany was established in 1998 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In subsequent years, the company established branches in Slovakia (since 2000), Croatia (2001), Poland (2001), Romania (2005) and Bulgaria (2006).
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Wikipedia