View source for Hypermarket

{{Short description|Big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store}}
[[File:MoA 172.jpg|thumb|Asian hypermarket in the [[Philippines]], a branch of [[SM Hypermarket]] in [[SM Mall of Asia]] in [[Pasay]], [[Metro Manila]]]]
A '''hypermarket''' or '''superstore''' is a [[big-box store]] combining a [[supermarket]] and a [[department store]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hypermarket.asp|title=Hypermarket|date=24 June 2007|work=Investopedia|access-date=26 September 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> The result is an expansive [[retailing|retail]] facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full [[grocery store|grocery]] lines and [[product (business)|general merchandise]]. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term ''hypermarket'' ({{langx|fr|hypermarché}}) was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet.{{sfn|Grimmeau|2013|p=3}}
Hypermarkets, like other [[big-box store]]s, typically have business models focusing on high-volume, low-[[profit margin|margin]] [[sales]]. Typically covering an area of {{convert|5000|to|15000|m2|sqft}}, they generally have more than 200,000 different brands of merchandise available at any one time.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} Because of their large [[surface area|footprints]], many hypermarkets choose [[suburb]]an or out-of-town locations that are easily accessible by automobile.
==History==
===Canada===
[[Loblaws]] established its [[Real Canadian Superstore]] chain in 1979. It sells mainly groceries, while also retailing clothing, electronics and housewares. Its largest competitor in Canada is [[Walmart Canada|Walmart]]. These are the two major Canadian hypermarkets.
===Europe===
The Belgian retailer [[GB supermarket|Grand Bazar]] opened three hypermarkets in a short span in 1961 under the name ''SuperBazar'' after Belgian law restricting the size of department stores was abolished in January 1961. The first ''SuperBazar'', opened in [[Bruges]] on 9 September 1961, initially designed to become a non-food department store, however only covered a surface area of {{convert|3300|m2|sqft}}, and was later converted into a regular supermarket. The substantially larger store that opened a week later in [[Auderghem]], Brussels, covering {{cvt|9100|m2|sqft}}, is regarded as a more proper hypermarket that brought the concept to fruition. {{sfn|Grimmeau|2013|pp=1–3}} It was Belgian market development engineer {{Interlanguage link multi|Maurice Cauwe|fr}}, who adopted the concept from his frequent trips to the United States, particularly inspired from the [[Grand Union (supermarket)|Grand Union]]'s "Grand Way" center in [[Paramus, New Jersey]].{{sfn|Grimmeau|2013|pp=2; 7}}
[[Carrefour]] opened its first hypermarket in 1963, at [[Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Essonne|Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois]], [[France]],<ref>Jean-Mark Villermet, ''Naissance de l'hypermarche'', 1991, {{ISBN|2-200-37263-9}}, Colin (publisher).</ref> The co-founders were influenced by the teachings of Colombian-born American marketing executive [[Bernardo Trujillo]], who taught [[executive education]] as part of the [[NCR Corporation]]'s marketing campaign.<ref name="lesechosbernardolaccoucheur">{{cite news|title=Bernardo Trujillo, l'accoucheur des grandes surfaces|url=https://www.lesechos.fr/08/12/1999/LesEchos/18042-153-ECH_bernardo-trujillo--l-accoucheur-des-grandes-surfaces.htm|access-date=10 February 2018|work=Les Echos|date=8 December 1999}}</ref>
In France, hypermarkets are generally situated in [[shopping mall|shopping center]]s ({{langx|fr|centre commercial or centre d'achats}}) outside cities, though some are present in the city center. They are surrounded by extensive car parking facilities, and generally by other specialized [[superstores]] that sell clothing, sports gear, automotive items, etc.
After the successes of super- and hyper-markets and amid fears that smaller stores would be forced out of business, [[France]] enacted laws that made it more difficult to build hypermarkets and also restricted the amount of economic leverage that hypermarket chains can impose upon their suppliers (the ''Loi Galland'').
===Japan===
The predecessor to [[Ito Yokado]] was founded in 1920 selling western goods, went public in 1957, and switched to that name in 1965. [[Seibu Department Stores]] was founded in 1956, and opened up its grocery chain [[Seiyu Group]] in 1963. [[Isao Nakauchi]] founded the first [[Daiei]] in [[Kobe]] in 1957, selling clothing, electronics, furniture and groceries all in one store. [[Jusco]] was created in 1970, and eventually became known as [[ÆON]].
In Japanese, hypermarkets are known as 総合スーパー (Sougou Suupaa, General Merchandise Stores). There is a distinction in Japanese between スーパー (Supers) and デパート (Departs) with the former being discounters, but the latter selling luxury brand clothing and quite often high-end groceries as well.
Hypermarkets may be found in urban areas as well as less populated areas. The Japanese government encourages hypermarket installations, as mutual investment by financial stocks are a common way to run hypermarkets. Japanese hypermarkets may contain restaurants, [[manga]] (Japanese comic) stands, [[Internet cafe]]s, typical department store merchandise, a full range of groceries, [[beauty salon]]s and other services all in the same store. A recent{{When|date=March 2009}} trend has been to combine the [[variety store|dollar store]] concept with the hypermarket blueprint, giving rise to the "hyakkin plaza"—''hyakkin'' (百均) or ''hyaku en'' (百円) means 100 [[Japanese yen|yen]] (roughly 1 [[United States dollar|US dollar]]).
===United States===
[[File:Fredmeyer edit 1.jpg|thumb|Packaged food aisles at a [[Fred Meyer]] hypermarket in [[Portland, Oregon]]]]
Until the 1980s, large stores combining food and non-food items were unusual in the United States, although early predecessors existed since the first half of the 20th century.{{sfn|Grimmeau|2013|p=8}} The term "hypermarket" itself is still rarely used in the US.
The [[Pacific Northwest]] chain [[Fred Meyer]], now a division of the [[Kroger]] supermarket company, opened the first suburban one-stop shopping center in 1931 in the [[Hollywood District (Portland, Oregon)|Hollywood District]] of [[Portland, Oregon]]. The store's innovations included a grocery store alongside a [[drugstore]] plus off-street parking and an automobile lubrication and oil service. In 1933, men's and women's wear was added, and automotive department, housewares, and other nonfood products followed in succeeding years. In the mid 1930s, Fred Meyer opened a central bakery, a candy kitchen, an ice cream plant, and a photo-finishing plant, which supplied the company's stores in Portland and neighbouring cities with house brands such as Vita Bee bread, Hocus Pocus desserts, and Fifth Avenue candies. By the 1950s, Fred Meyer began opening stores that were {{convert|45000|to|70000|sqft|m2|abbr=on|order=flip}}, and the 1960s saw the first modern-sized Fred Meyer hypermarkets.<ref>[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/fred-meyer-stores-inc-history/ FundingUniverse: ''Fred Meyer Stores, Inc. History''] Linked 9 January 2014</ref>
The [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] (then grocery) chain [[Meijer]], which today operates about 235 stores in six US states, coined the term "super center",<ref>[http://www.meijer.com/content/corporate.jsp?pageName=company Meijer website: ''Our Company''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207152531/http://www.meijer.com/content/corporate.jsp?pageName=company |date=7 February 2014 }} Linked 9 January 2014</ref> and opened the first of its hypermarket format store in [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]], in June 1961, under the brand name "Thrifty Acres".<ref>[http://www.meijer.com/content/corporate.jsp?pageName=our_history Meijer website: ''Our History''] Linked 9 January 2014 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125083524/http://www.meijer.com/content/corporate.jsp?pageName=our_history |date=25 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2008/10/column_meijers_first_supercent.html|title=Column: Meijer's first Super center past its prime but full of good memories|work=MLive.com|date=12 October 2008|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref>
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the three major US [[Discount retail store|discount store]] chains – [[Walmart]], [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]] and [[Target Corporation|Target]] – started developing similar format chains. Wal-Mart (as it was known before its late-2000s rebranding as Walmart) introduced [[Hypermart USA]] in 1987, followed by [[Walmart#Walmart Supercenter|Wal-Mart Supercenter]] in 1988;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=5|title=Walmart Corporate - We save people money so they can live better.|access-date=30 July 2015|archive-date=8 January 2007|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070108225555/http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=5|url-status=dead}}</ref> The same year, French chains [[Carrefour]] and [[Auchan]] opened hypermarkets in [[Philadelphia]] and [[Greater Houston]], respectively.<ref name="Foodtown">Wollam, Allison. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/06/09/newscolumn5.html Food Town to occupy portion of shuttered Auchan hypermarket]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Sunday 8 June 2003. Modified on Thursday 5 June 2003. Retrieved on 13 January 2011.</ref> Kmart opened its first Super Kmart Center in 1991;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kmartcorp.com/corp/story/general/kmart_glance.stm |title=Sears Holdings Corporation - Corporate Website |access-date=30 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020104524/http://www.kmartcorp.com/corp/story/general/kmart_glance.stm |archive-date=20 October 2008 }}</ref> and Target came with the first Target Greatland stores in 1990, followed by the larger SuperTarget stores in 1995.<ref>[https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years Target website: ''Target through the years''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916162456/https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years |date=2019-09-16 }} Linked 9 January 2014</ref> Most Greatland stores have since been converted to SuperTarget stores, while some have been converted into regular Target stores with the exception of 2 entrances (one example of this is the [[Antioch, California]] location).
In the early 1990s, US hypermarkets also began selling fuel. The idea was first introduced in the 1960s, when a number of supermarket chains and retailers like [[Sears]] tried to sell fuel, but it didn't generate sufficient consumer interest at the time. Today there are approximately 4,500 hypermarket stores in the US selling fuel, representing an estimated {{convert|14|e9USgal|e9L|abbr=off}} sold each year.<ref name="The History of Gasoline Retailing">[http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Resources/campaigns/GasPrices_2011/Pages/100PlusYearsGasolineRetailing.aspx The History of Gasoline Retailing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324020636/http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/Resources/campaigns/GasPrices_2011/Pages/100PlusYearsGasolineRetailing.aspx |date=24 March 2011 }}</ref>
=== Australia ===
In Australia, hypermarkets were at their peak during the 1980s. This was especially prevalent during the era of South African owned [[Pick n Pay Stores]] and a now discontinued format of [[Kmart Australia]] Stores known as Super Kmart. This trend in the Australian market soon lost its appeal into the 1990s. Super Kmart stores were discontinued and [[Coles Supermarkets]] and Kmart Stores opened in the former location. Pick n Pay continued to operate in Australia until the 2000s when their locations at [[Aspley, Queensland|Aspley]] and [[Sunnybank Hills, Queensland|Sunnybank Hills]] were converted into Coles Supermarkets and Kmart Department Stores.
As of 2022, the only hypermarket or Big-Box Store operational in Australia are [[Costco]] Wholesale Warehouses with currently thirteen stores in Australia - four stores in [[Melbourne]], three stores in [[Sydney]], two stores in [[Brisbane]] and one store each in [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]], [[Canberra]], [[Adelaide]] and [[Perth]], with construction underway on the fourteenth store on Queensland's [[Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast.]] There were plans for German hypermarket company [[Kaufland]] to open stores in Australia announced in 2019; these plans were cancelled in 2020.
=== Iran ===
Hypermarkets did not exist in Iran until 2009 (1388 ه.ش.). Before that, there were some local hypermarkets, but international branches were nonexistent. Despite their late arrival, hypermarkets in Iran have achieved a significant degree of growth. The first branch was opened in Tehran under the name of [[Iran Hyper Star|Iran Hyperstar]] through a collaboration between Carrefour and Majid Al Futtaim Group based in The United Arab Emirates. The Emirati holding is the main shareholder with about 75% of the company's shares. New branches were established after Iran Hyperstar’s first store found relative success. Now, other branches have been established in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Ahvaz, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |title=تاریخچه هایپراستار؛ همه چیز درباره بزرگترین فروشگاه زنجیره ای – فرصت امروز |url=https://www.forsatnet.ir/14020126-12.html |access-date=16 April 2023 |website=forsatnet.ir |lang=fa}}</ref>
==Size==
[[Image:Walmartsupercenterproducesection.jpg|thumb|right|The produce section of a typical [[Walmart Supercenter]] (Walmart's hypermarket brand) in Mexico]]
The average [[Walmart Supercenter]] covers around {{convert|178000|sqft|m2|abbr=on|order=flip}}, with the largest ones covering {{cvt|260000|ft2|m2|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite news |author=Paul Ausick |title=Walmart Now Has Six Types of Stores |publisher=24/7 Wall Street |url=http://247wallst.com/retail/2014/03/22/walmart-now-has-six-types-of-stores/ |date=22 March 2014 |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> A typical [[Carrefour]] hypermarket still covers {{cvt|10000|m2|ft2}}, while the European trend in the 2000s has rather turned towards smaller hypermarkets of {{cvt|3000|to|5000|m2|ft2}}.<ref>{{cite news |author=David Jolly |title=Carrefour Rethinks Its 'Bigger Is Better' Strategy |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/business/global/carrefour-rethinks-its-bigger-is-better-strategy.html |date=27 January 2012 |access-date=17 June 2016}}</ref> In France, [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]] defines hypermarkets ({{langx|fr|hypermarché/s}}) as non-specialized markets with a minimum size of {{cvt|2500|m2|sqft}}.<ref>{{cite report |title=La situation du commerce en 2014 |trans-title=The situation of commerce in 2014 |publisher=[[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]] |url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/publications-et-services/docs_doc_travail/E1509.pdf |date=18 December 2015 |access-date=17 June 2016 |language=fr}}</ref>
==Future==
Despite its success, the hypermarket business model may be under threat from online shopping and the shift towards customization according to analysts like [[Sanjeev Sanyal]], Deutsche Bank's Global Strategist, until 2015.<ref name="The Customization Revolution">{{cite web|url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-customization-revolution|title=Sanjeev Sanyal on The Customization Revolution - Project Syndicate|work=Project Syndicate|date=22 March 2012|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref> Sanyal has argued that some developing countries such as India may omit the hypermarket stage and directly go online.<ref name="Clicks Over Bricks in India">{{cite web|url=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/india-retail-market-online-shopping-internet-by-sanjeev-sanyal|title=Sanjeev Sanyal on Clicks over Bricks in India - Project Syndicate|work=Project Syndicate|date=5 October 2012|access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref>
==Warehouse club==
{{Main article|Warehouse club}}
Another category of stores sometimes included in the hypermarket category are the membership-based [[wholesale]] [[warehouse club]]s that are popular in [[North America]], pioneered by [[Fedco]] and today including [[Sam's Club]], a division of Walmart; [[Costco]], in which [[Carrefour]] owned some shares<ref>Robert Spector, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4331/is_198501/ai_n15126345 "Carrefour enters U.S. via share in Costco"], ''Supermarket News'', January 1985.</ref> from 1985 to 1996; [[BJ's Wholesale Club]] on the East Coast; and [[Clubes City Club]] in Mexico. In Europe, [[Makro]] (owned by [[METRO AG]]) leads the market.
However, warehouse clubs differ from hypermarkets in that they have sparse interior decor and require paid membership. In addition, warehouse clubs usually sell bigger packages and have fewer choices in each category of items.
== See also ==
{{Portal|Business and economics|Supermarkets}}
* [[List of hypermarkets]]
* [[Retail#Types of retail outlets|Types of retail outlets]]
*[[Shelf-ready packaging]]
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Grimmeau |first=Jean-Pierre |date=10 June 2013 |title=A forgotten anniversary: the first European hypermarkets open in Brussels in 1961 |journal=Brussels Studies |number=67 |doi=10.4000/brussels.1155 |issn=2031-0293 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1155 |access-date=28 March 2020|doi-access=free }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
* {{Commons category inline|Supermarkets}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Food retailers]]
[[Category:Hypermarkets| ]]
[[Category:Retail formats]]