| Type | Discount store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 in Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway |
| Owner | Reitangruppen |
| Structure | Franchise |
| Area served | Scandinavia |
| No. of locations | 444 |
| Revenue | NOK 20.6 billion (2004) |
| Employees | 6,312 (2004) |
| Slogan | Bare lave priser |
| Website | www.rema.no |
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 the concept of offering a selection of only one thousand different products (refer to the history section).
With their headquarters located in Oslo, Norway, REMA 1000 includes businesses in Norway, Denmark, Sweden. 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.
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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’s 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.
Originally REMA attempted success with a selection of only 500-600 different products, but soon realised that this selection was too narrow. The success of the third REMA supermarket (opened in Mo i Rana, 8 May 1980) with a selection of 1,000 different products, paved way for the REMA 1000 brand. Since then, REMA 1000 have expanded their selection to more than 2,500 different products [1], but the name hasn’t been updated along the way.
In 2004, the chain celebrated its 25-year anniversary.
REMA 1000 is a sponsor of Rosenborg BK.
| Supermarkets | Country | Employees | Revenue | Market share | Debut year | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 320 (2004) | Norway | 5,450 (2004) | NOK 17,621 mill ( 4.6%) (2004) | 17.5% (2004) | 1979 | headquarters located in Oslo |
| 123 (2004) | Denmark | 846 (2004) | NOK 2,935 mill ( 10.2%) (2004) | 3% (2004) | 1994 | — |
| 1 (2004) | Sweden | 16 (2004) | NOK 42 mill ( -19.8%) (2004) | ? | 1991 | the one supermarket is located in Svinesund |
| 20 | Slovakia | ? | ? | ? | 1993 | the supermarkets are sold, but the brand is kept |
| 0 | Poland | — | — | — | 1993 | sold in 2003 |
| 0 | Hungary | — | — | — | 1998 | sold in 2002 |
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