Edeka

The Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation, currently holding a market share of 26%. Founded in 1898, it consists today of several cooperatives of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation Edeka Zentrale AG & Co KG, with headquarters in Hamburg. There are approximately 4,100 stores with the Edeka nameplate that range from small corner stores to hypermarkets. On November 16, 2007, Edeka reached an agreement with Tengelmann (known for A&P in the US) to purchase a 70% majority stake in Tengelmann's Plus discounter store division.

History

The cooperative was founded in 1898 as the E.d.K. (Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler im Halleschen Torbezirk zu Berlin, "Purchasing Cooperative of Colonial Goods Retailers in the Hallesches Tor district of Berlin"). In 1913, it was renamed as Edeka - a phonetic expansion of the previous abbreviation. The Edekabank was founded in 1914 and, from 1923, central billing was introduced.

After the Second World War, the reconstruction of the store network was led from the new Hamburg central offices. In 1972, the cooperatives changed structure and formed twelve regional companies, the umbrella corporation and the Edekabank converting from a cooperative to a public limited company.