Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail (Grocery) |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Headquarters | Athens, Greece |
Number of locations | 286 (2014)[1] |
Key people | Gerasimos and Haralambos Vassilopoulos (Founders) |
| Products | Groceries, consumer goods |
| Revenue | €3.74 billion (2014) |
| €311 million (2014) | |
| €263 million (2014) | |
Number of employees | 14,586 (2014) |
| Parent | Delhaize Group |
| Slogan | "Even the Birds milk!" |
| Website | http://www.ab.gr/ |
"Alfa-Vita Vassilopoulos" (Άλφα-Βήτα Βασιλόπουλος) or simply "AB" is a supermarket chain based in Greece.[2]
History
The company was established in 1939 in Athens, Greece, when the brothers Gerasimos and Haralambos Vassilopoulos (Γεράσιμος and Χαράλαμπος Βασιλόπουλος) opened a small grocery shop, on Voulis Street, in downtown Athens. A few years later, they opened a second, larger shop on Stadiou Street, in Athens.
In 1969, Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos S.A. (Άλφα-Βήτα Βασιλόπουλος A.E.) was formed. In 1970, the first 'real' supermarket was established in the Faros area of Psichiko (Ψυχικό), Athens. By 1989, AB had opened nine supermarkets in the greater Athens area.
In 1991, AB was listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. In the same year, the first AB MEGA supermarket was opened, in the area of Hellinikon, close to the old Athens Hellinikon International Airport.
In 1992, a new AB MEGA was built on the Athens-Lamia highway (Εθνική Αθηνών-Λαμίας). In the meanwhile, AB was acquired by the Belgian retail company "Delhaize Group". In 1994, AB was the first supermarket company in Greece to introduce the barcode system at its cashiers.
Between 1995 and 1998, AB opened a large warehouse, in Mandra, Attica (Μάνδρα, Αττική) and in 2009 a larger one for fresh and perishables, in Oinofyta, Voiotia.
By 2000, AB had 53 shops in 11 cities in Greece. On 16 October 2000, AB acquired the TROFO (Τροφό) and ENA Cash-and-Carry (ΈΝΑ Cash-and-Carry) supemarket chains. In 2009, ΑΒ acquires the retail chain Κoryfi, enhancing both its network by 10 stores and its presence in Thrace.
See also
References
- ↑ Delhaize Group Annual Report 2010
- ↑ Basic Description-Basic Description