Updated May 04, 2012
Compared to the U.S., European retailing is gaining ground on the global retailing stage, according to 2011 Global Powers of Retailing ranking list, compiled by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine, which identifies the largest retailers in the world.
Germany's supermarket chain Edeka Zentrale AG & Company KG, Switzerland's supermarket chain Coop Group, UK's Co-operative Group Ltd., and Norway's NorgesGruppen ASA all had significant positive movement on the Largest European Retailers list in 2011, when compared to the 2010 largest retailers in Europe. In fact, 28 of the 89 largest retail chains by revenue in Europe are Supermarket chains. Considering the shift away from discretionary spending during the recession, this is easy to understand.
Another European supermarket chain, Russia's Open Joint Stock Company Magnit is new to the Largest European Retailers list, along with newcomers, UK's Kesa Electricals, Austria's xxxLutz Group UK's HMV Group, and Germany's Muller Ltd. and Italy's Gruppo PAM s.p.a. are also new addition to Europe's Largest Retailers list. With these new additions, Europe has 89 retail companies ranked as the largest in the world, which is the same number of that the U.S. retail industry has on the list. European retailing is expanding domestically and internationally, giving the U.S. competition for dominance in the global retail industry.
The biggest move up the list was made by Germany's home improvement chain Bauhaus GmbH & Company KG, which moved from the #188 ranking on the 2010 list to the 159th position on the 2011 list.
While Wal-Mart is the largest global retailer by far in terms of revenue, the other four retail companies in the top five are all based in Europe. What follows is the complete list of European retailers ranked on the 2011 Global Powers of Retailing list. The number in the left column is the global ranking number assigned to the company, based on its revenue figures, compared to the other 250 largest retail organizations worldwide.
Retail Companies Based in Europe Ranked Among the 250 Largest Retailers In the World:
2 Carrefour
France
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
>> See complete list of 2011 largest retail companies and chains in France >>
3 Metro AG
Germany
Cash & Carry/Warehouse Club
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Germany >>
4 Tesco plc
U.K.
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in the U.K. in 2011 >>
5 Schwarz Untemehmens Treuhand KG
Germany
Discount Store
8 Aldi GmbH & Company oHG
Germany
Discount Store
12 Rewe-Zentral AG
Germany
Supermarket
14 Edeka Zentrale AG & Company KG
Germany
Supermarket
15 Groupe Auchan S.A.
France
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
22 Centres Distributeurs E. Leclerc
France
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
25 Koninklijke Ahold N.V.
Netherlands
Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in the Netherlands >>
26 Casino Guichard-Pernachon S.A.
France
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
27 ITM Developpement International (intermarche)
France
Supermarket
28 J Sainsbury plc
UK
Supermarket
30 The IKEA Group
Sweden
Other Specialty
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Sweden >>
32 Delhaize Group
Belgium
Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Belgium >>
34 WM Morrison Supermarkets plc
U.K.
Supermarket
39 Mercadona, S.A.
Spain Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Spain >>
41 Migros-Genossenschafts Bund
Switzerland
Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Switzerland >>
42 Systeme U, Centrale Nationale
France
Supermarket
43 El Corte Ingles, S.A.
Spain
Department Store
44 PPR S.A.
France
Specialty Stores
47 Coop Italia
Italy
Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Italy >>
49 Coop Group
Switzerland
Supermarket
50 Inditex S.A.
Spain
Apparel/Footwear Specialty
51 Louis Delhaize S.A.
Belgium
Hypermarket/Supercenter/Superstore
52 Kingfisher plc
U.K.
Home Improvement
53 Marks & Spencer Group
U.K.
Department Store
60 Groupe Adeo
France
Home Improvement
61 LVMH Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton
France
Specialty Stores
64 DSG International plc
U.K.
Electronics Specialty
65 H&M Hennes & Maruitz AB
Sweden
Apparel-Footwear Specialty
66 Co-operative Group Ltd.
U.K.
Supermarket
67 Conad Consorzio Nazionale, Dettaglianti Soc. Coop. a.r.l.
Italy
Supermarket
68 S Group
Finland
Supermarket
69 Otto (GmbH & Co KG)
Germany
Non-Store
71 ICA AB
Sweden
Supermarket
72 SPAR Osterreischische
Austria
Supermarket
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Austria >>
74 Alliance Boots GmbH
U.K.
Drug Store/Pharmacy
78 Tengelmann Warehandelsgesellschaft KG
Germany
Home Improvement
79 Dansk Supermarked A/S
Denmark
Discount Store
80 John Lewis Partnership plc
U.K.
Supermarket
81 Grupo Eroski
Spain
Supermarket
82 Kesko Corp.
Finland
Home Improvement
85 Jeronimo Martins, SGPS S.A.
Portugal
Discount Store
>> See complete list of largest retail companies in Portugal in 2011 >>
88 Home Retail Group plc
U.K.
Specialty Stores
93 Reitangruppen AS
Norway
Discount Stores
94 C&A Europe
Belgium/Germany
Apparel/Footwear Specialty
More Largest European Retailers >>
