Plus was a German multinational discount supermarket chain founded in 1972. It operated 2,840 stores in Germany with an approximate 27,000 employees and about 1,200 stores in several other European countries. The retail model was to sell low-cost groceries with no expense incurred for display or marketing of products. Groceries were stored in the shipping cartons they came in, rather than being stacked on shelves. In German advertising, the name "Plus" was used as a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

for "Prima leben und sparen" (approximately "top-notch living and saving"), featuring animated "little prices" (also sold as plush puppets) as their mascot.

Sale

The Edeka Group and the

Tengelmann Group Tengelmann Warenhandelsgesellschaft KG, doing business as the Tengelmann Group, is a holding company based in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. Structure The corporation has the following subsidiaries: * KiK Textilien und Non-Food GmbH, with over 3 ...

entered a joint venture to acquire the Plus supermarket chain on November 16, 2007, which resulted in 70% of Plus supermarkets being owned by the Edeka Group and 30% owned by the Tengelmann Group. As of January 2009, the stores in the Plus supermarket chain owned by the

Edeka The Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation , holding a market share of 20.3%. Founded in 1907, it consists today of several co-operatives of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation ''Edeka Zentr ...

group were remodelled into

Netto Marken-Discount Netto Marken-Discount (also known as just Netto, formerly Plus) is a German discount supermarket chain owned by the German supermarket cooperative Edeka Group, and operates mostly in the south and west of Germany. The company reached its 1000th ...

supermarket chain branches, while the Tengelmann Group's supermarkets were bought by others. In 2008, Plus was recognized by PETA as the most pet-friendly discount store.

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External links

* (2021 link, now redirects netto-online.de) * (2008 link, which was archived by the Wayback Machine) {{Supermarkets of the United States 1972 establishments in West Germany Retail companies established in 1972 Defunct supermarkets of Germany Defunct supermarkets of the United States Mülheim Retail companies disestablished in 2009 Supermarkets of Bulgaria Supermarkets of Germany Supermarkets of Poland Defunct retail companies of Romania Supermarkets of Spain The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Discount stores German companies established in 1972 German companies disestablished in 2009