Albert Česká republika, s.r.o., is a division of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

-based

Ahold Delhaize Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (in Dutch literally "Royal Ahold Delhaize"), commonly known as Ahold Delhaize, is a Dutch multinational retail and wholesaling company. Its name comes from a merger between Ahold (Dutch) and Delhaize Group (Belgia ...

group, operating in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. The company (then known as Euronova a.s.) began trading in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1990. Today it operates the approximately 330 outlets forming the supermarket chain Albert.

History

The company opened its first store in 1991, under the brand name

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

. This outlet, in

Jihlava Jihlava (; german: Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 50,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihlava i ...

, was Czechoslovakia's first supermarket. In 2005, Ahold took over 56 outlets of the Austrian-based

Julius Meinl Julius Meinl International (german: Julius Meinl AG, Meinl-Gruppe), also known simply as Julius Meinl, is a manufacturer and retailer of coffee, gourmet foods and other grocery products. The company is based in Vienna, Austria. It is named aft ...

supermarket when the latter company left the Czech market, and remodelled them to conform to their Albert brand. In 2009, the company dropped the Hypernova brand, re-branding all

hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre 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 ...

operations to the name Albert Hypermarket. In March 2014 Ahold Czech Republic a.s. acquired 35 hypermarkets and 14 supermarkets from

Spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

for more than 5.2 billion

Czech koruna The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro currenc ...

. With this move Albert became and remains the Czech Republic's biggest supermarket chain in terms of outlets, with some 330 stores. The Prague TV guide mentioned in 2015 both the original pioneering and current outdatedness of the Albert stores.

References

Ahold Delhaize Retail companies established in 1991 Supermarkets of the Czech Republic Organizations based in Prague {{retail-company-stub