Hypermarket

A 'hypermarket' (sometimes called a 'supercenter' or 'superstore') is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full groceries lines and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term hypermarket (French: hypermarché) was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet. A 'hypermarket' (sometimes called a 'supercenter' or 'superstore') is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full groceries lines and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term hypermarket (French: hypermarché) was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet. Hypermarkets, like other big-box stores, typically have business models focusing on high-volume, low-margin sales. Typically covering an area of 5,000 to 15,000 square metres (54,000 to 161,000 sq ft), they generally have more than 200,000 different brands of merchandise available at any one time. Because of their large footprints, many hypermarkets choose suburban or out-of-town locations that are easily accessible by automobile. In 1963, Carrefour opened the first hypermarket in St Genevieve-de-Bois, near Paris, France. By the end of the twentieth century, stores were using labels such as 'mega-stores' and 'warehouse' stores to reflect their growing size. Loblaws established its Real Canadian Superstore chain in 1979. It sells mainly groceries, while also retailing clothing, electronics and housewares. The first European hypermarket is commonly mistaken to be the Carrefour store that opened in 1963, at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, France, 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. However, the Belgian retailer Grand Bazar preceded Carrefour by two years when it 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 3,300 square metres (36,000 sq ft), and was later converted into a regular supermarket. The substantially larger store that opened a week later in Auderghem near Brussels, covering 9,100 m2 (98,000 sq ft), is regarded as a more proper hypermarket that brought the concept to fruition. It was Belgian market development engineer Maurice Cauwe , who adopted the concept from his frequent trips to the United States, particularly inspired from the Grand Union's 'Grand Way' center in Paramus, New Jersey. 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 Aeon.