REMA 1000
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| Discount store | |
| Founded | 1979 in Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway |
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Number of locations
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444 |
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Area served
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Scandinavia |
| Revenue | NOK 20.6 billion (2004) |
| Owner | Reitangruppen |
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Number of employees
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6,312 (2004) |
| Website | www |
REMA 1000 is a multinational no-frills supermarket chain owned entirely by the Reitan Group (Reitangruppen). REMA is a short for Reitan Mat (Reitan Food), referring to Odd Reitan (founder of the company). 1000 refers to offering a selection of only one thousand different products (see the history section).
With their headquarters located in Oslo, Norway, REMA 1000 includes businesses in Norway and Denmark. The chain is based on a franchised discount concept: buying large quantities of a limited range of products and offering these to semi-independent owners under their brand. By 2004, REMA 1000 includes 444 supermarkets spread around Scandinavia.
In Norway, the supermarket chain captured 17.5% (2004) of the total revenue by all Norwegian supermarkets, taking the lead over its closest rival RIMI. By market share it is therefore the single largest supermarket chain in the country.
REMA 1000 supermarkets are known for not spending large sums on aesthetics. As a matter of fact one of the chain's slogans is “The simple is often the best” (Norwegian: “Det enkle er ofte det beste”) and this reflects on the layout concept in the supermarkets. Products are mostly positioned by crate or even by pallet to save the cost of positioning them in a more attractive way, a strategy not unique to REMA. It is still REMA 1000’s official policy of not letting cost-saving damage the basic idea of simplicity (in accordance with the slogan). Wide corridors and informative signs are therefore present to simplify the shopping.
Odd Reitan, the founder of the company, opened the first REMA supermarket in Trondheim, Norway, 15 February 1979. Originally some stores were named 'REMA 500', indicating its number of food variety (later to be expanded). The owners had recently visited Germany where they had been impressed by the Albrecht brothers (Theo and Karl) supermarket chain ALDI's success. They wanted to adapt the ALDI concept to Norwegian conditions.
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Wikipedia