Rema fastest growing discounter in Denmark
Fakta is no longer Denmark’s second largest grocery chain. Rema 1000 has taken that position with 353 stores against Fakta’s 340 stores. However, the lead dog is still Netto, owned by The Salling group, with 516 discount stores.
“It has not been a goal in itself, but we are of course proud that we can now call ourselves Denmark's second largest grocery chain. It has gone very well for Rema 1000 here,” says Jonas Schrøder, communications manager at Rema 1000 Denmark to RetailNews, a business news site in Denmark.
Denmark’s largest grocery chains measured by number of stores
- Netto: 516
- Rema 1000: 353
- Fakta: 340
- Dagli’Brugsen: 303
- SuperBrugsen: 235
- Aldi: 183
- Min Købmand: 163
- Lidl: 131
- Spar: 130
- Meny: 113
- Føtex: 103
- Let-Køb: 102
- Irma: 68
- Kvickly: 68
- Bilka: 19
- Coop 365: 15
- Løvbjerg: 15
- ABC Lavpris: 14
Just two years ago, Fakta had 100 stores more than Rema 1000. But Fakta has closed a large number of stores and most recently transformed several into the new low-price chain Coop 365.
At the same time, with its highly successful franchise model, Rema 1000 has opened a large number of new stores. At the end of the year, the chain has planned a total of 358 stores, says Schrøder.
"We do not have a figure for how many stores there is room for. But we look especially in the big cities, where it is harder to get good locations. The customer base must be sufficient so that we can make a sensible business - both for the franchisee and us," says Jonas Schrøder.
The Fakta chain has for many years caused its owner, the Coop Group, anguish with large deficits, 650 million DKK in the years from 2013 to 2019.
No wonder Coop has embarked on a major clean-up work and, among other things, closed loss-making stores. It paid off last year when Fakta came out with a profit for the first time in many years.
A new low-cost chain
Coop has now started to transform a number of Fakta stores into the new low-price chain Coop 365.
The 15 Coop 365 stores, which are currently being tested in a number of cities, are Coop's bids for the low-cost supermarket of the future. With approximately 3,000 items in the range Coop 365 has more of Coop's own brands and fewer branded products from external suppliers.
However, Coop CEO Kræn Østergaard Nielsen has rejected that the new concept should completely replace the Fakta chain.
“Time must tell what makes sense. Fakta are strong in many cities, but where the chain has not been successful so far, it is obvious to try the Coop 365 concept,” says Kræn Østergaard Nielsen.