Bipa

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BIPA Parfumerien Gesellschaft mbH

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1980
Seat Wiener Neudorf , AustriaAustriaAustria 
management
  • Thomas light blue
  • Michael Paterno
Number of employees approx. 4,000
Branch retail trade
Website www.bipa.at

Former logo

Bipa (proper spelling in capital letters) is an Austrian company with headquarters in Wiener Neudorf . It operates around 600 branches, making it one of the largest drugstore retailers in Austria. Bipa was founded by Karl Wlaschek in the early 1980s as a sister company of Billa . The Rewe Group acquired the company in 1996, and today Bipa is a division of Rewe International .

history

Bipa branch on Mariahilfer Strasse in Vienna (2009)
Interior shot of a Bipa branch in Graz (2017)

In 1953 Karl Wlaschek opened his first drugstore. He later expanded the range to include groceries. In the 1960s and 1970s, Billa (for "cheaper shop") developed into a thriving retail business . In order to diversify the business and keep the competition at a distance, Wlaschek finally founded the drugstore chain Bipa (for “cheap perfumeries”) in the early 1980s. Together with Billa, Merkur , Libro and other trading companies, it was part of the so-called BML Holding . The first branch was set up in Goldschmiedgasse in Vienna's 1st district . The range included products from all areas of the drugstore and perfumery. In 1988, Bipa expanded its range of services to include photo shops.

A change in consumer behavior in the 1990s led to a structural change in the industry, plus the opening of the markets to Eastern Europe . In the mid-1990s, Bipa, the dm drugstores and Schlecker controlled three quarters of the market. To secure his life's work, Wlaschek sold large parts of his company to the Rewe Group in 1996. In addition to the Billa, Emma, ​​Merkur and Mondo stores, Bipa was also affected. The German group positioned itself more internationally with the acquisition of Bipa and Co. At the same time, the company continued its expansion course in Austria: In 1997, 100 additional branches began to be opened. Bipa also put the first own brands on the market.

At the same time as Billa, Bipa built up its e-commerce business around the turn of the millennium . While in 1999 the company had more locations than the dm drugstores for the first time, in 2004 it passed the 500 branch mark. On this occasion, a flagship store with over 400 square meters of sales area and an expanded range was opened in the Ringstrasse Galleries shopping center in Vienna . It should serve as a model for other stores. In fact, textile cleaning , for example, was taken over in many other Bipa branches. In addition to expanding its presence in Austria, Bipa expanded to Italy from 2004, and also to Germany on a test basis. In Italy, Bipa developed into an important growth driver for the group alongside Penny .

In 2007 Bipa started in Croatia. In the same year a comprehensive modernization of the structure and appearance of the drugstore chain took place. This went hand in hand with the energetic renovation of many branches. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Bipa, the company intensified its social commitment : in 2010 it announced that it would be funding school projects with half a million euros. In 2013, Bipa was one of the first retailers to introduce mobile payment. Regardless of such innovations, the price-driven competition and the renovation of the branches made the company to create. In 2013 and 2014 profits collapsed. The trend was reversed in 2015, particularly due to growth in e-commerce.

Nevertheless, Bipa had meanwhile lost its position as market leader to the dm drugstores. This was one of the reasons for personnel changes at the top of the company. In order to continue to hold its own against the competition, Bipa lowered the prices for thousands of products in 2016 and adapted its range to the wishes of customers. While the perfumery was reduced, the range of food was expanded. Since then, Bipa has had more healthy products such as muesli on the shelves. Cosmetics and care products have also been given more space. Furthermore, a relaunch was started again in 2017 , both in the branches and in the advertising presence. Since then, soft colors, natural materials and warm light have been increasingly used in Bipa drugstores.

structure

Bipa is a sales line of the Rewe Group. The company is organized as a limited liability company under Austrian law. It is part of the group's scope of consolidation . The management consists of Thomas Lichtblau (spokesman) and Michael Paterno. Bipa currently employs around 4,000 people who share in the profits. In 2008 the company was awarded the Austrian coat of arms for its work as a training company .

The range comprises 15,000 products, which are currently offered in around 600 branches. According to its own information, Bipa has around 3.3 million regular customers. The company offers them a customer card with which they can collect points for every purchase and exchange them for rewards and gifts. In addition to stationary, electronic trading is an important pillar of the company. This supports various payment methods and enables both home delivery and collection in a branch. The Bipa online shop has been barrier-free since 2015.

criticism

In 1998 the Austrian Drug Association litigated the company due to unfair competition . The regional court of Wiener Neustadt prohibited Bipa from calling itself a “drugstore chain” or “druggist”. The terms were used in advertising mails, although at that time the required certificate of qualification for this trade could not be presented. The association viewed this as misleading consumers.

In 1998/1999, Bipa came into conflict with the private workers union . The company was again accused of unfair competition because the two branches at Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof and Praterstern  in Vienna offered all goods on Sundays, although actually only the sale of travel toilet articles was allowed. Bipa regretted this approach and agreed to comply with the legal requirements at all locations.

In 2008, the Chamber of Labor was critical of the company's customer card. A price comparison showed that almost 20 percent of the special offers were more expensive than other drug stores. Bipa rejected the allegations, citing its best price guarantee.

Web links

Commons : Bipa  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bipa celebrates her birthday . In: Vorarlberger Nachrichten . May 20, 2005.
  2. ↑ a b c company. Bipa, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Verena Kainrath: drugstore chain Bipa takes care of its wounds after a crisis . In: The Standard . June 29, 2017, p. 26 .
  4. ↑ Above-average growth in drugstore and perfume stores. In: Handelszeitung. September 28, 2016, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  5. ^ Georg Wailand: Billa celebrates its 50th birthday . In: Neue Kronen-Zeitung . September 6, 2003, p. 10 .
  6. ↑ Rewe Group buys Austria's largest retail chain . Cologne is named as the purchase price of two billion marks. In: Bonner General-Anzeiger . July 18, 1996, p. 16 .
  7. ↑ Business areas. (No longer available online.) Rewe International, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; accessed on October 1, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b Billa: How a bar pianist formed the largest trading group in the Alpine republic . In: Handelsblatt . July 18, 1996, p. 12 .
  9. ↑ Eternal battle for territory and shelf . In: Small newspaper . April 13, 2008, p. 28 .
  10. ↑ Austria Press Agency: 50 years of Billa - Rewe made even more of it . Chronology. September 5, 2003.
  11. ↑ The success story - Billa . In: Niederösterreichische Nachrichten . December 15, 2003, p. 26 .
  12. ↑ a b Austria Press Agency: 25 years: Bipa celebrates its birthday . April 28, 2005.
  13. ↑ Buoyancy from the bio-wave . Drugstores locate chances of survival through changed consumer behavior. In: Upper Austrian news . February 11, 1993, p. 9 .
  14. ↑ Import and export stores of good hope . In: The daily newspaper . October 18, 1990, p. 22 (Berlin edition).
  15. ↑ Elisabeth Sladek: Schlecker, Bipa and dm control 75 percent of the market . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . July 13, 1996, p. 1 .
  16. ↑ Billa sold to German Rewe . In: Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten . July 17, 1996.
  17. ^ Rewe: From the Rhine to the Danube . The Billa Group fits in well with the image of the expanding German retail giant. In: WirtschaftsBlatt . July 18, 1996, p. 6 .
  18. ↑ Eva Gabriel: Rewe makes steam: Bipa opens 100 new branches . The perfumery chain Bipa will launch its own brand in July. In: WirtschaftsBlatt . June 25, 1997, p. 1 .
  19. ↑ Austria Press Agency: Shop easily and securely in the Bipa online shop . May 7, 2001.
  20. ↑ Bipa is building new stores . In: Neue Kronen-Zeitung . May 20, 2004, p. 6 .
  21. ↑ Bipa starts with a new concept . In: format . April 30, 2004, p. 31 .
  22. ↑ Michaela Lexa: drugstore chain: Bipa expands offer to include cleaning service . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . December 10, 2004, p. 14 .
  23. ↑ Virgil Siegl: Bipa starts the cleaning shop . In: Courier . December 10, 2004, p. 21 .
  24. ↑ Bipa is testing market entry in Italy . In: Dolomites . November 25, 2004, p. 5 .
  25. ↑ Thomas Pressberger: Rewe plans to launch Bipa in Germany . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . December 27, 2010, p. 4 .
  26. ↑ Christoph Schlautmann: Rewe wants to grow in Italy with Penny and Bipa . In: Handelsblatt . May 26, 2006.
  27. ↑ Tamara Depolo: Bipa starts with five branches in Croatia . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . March 26, 2007, p. 11 .
  28. ↑ Barbara Schumy: Rewe Austria is re-styling drugstore chain Bipa . Retail: branches are being renewed for several million euros. In: WirtschaftsBlatt . June 15, 2007, p. 6 .
  29. ↑ Simone Hoepke: Bipa reduces energy expenditure . In: Courier . December 2, 2009, p. 11 .
  30. ↑ Melanie Manner: Bipa flagship store in Vienna saves energy costs . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . February 18, 2010, p. 15 .
  31. ↑ Bipa supports school projects . In: Salzburger Nachrichten . October 29, 2010, p. 21 .
  32. ↑ Mobile operators and Bipa test the cell phone as a wallet . In: Courier . January 26, 2013, p. 12 .
  33. ↑ Thomas Pressberger: Bipa: Renovation melts profits . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . October 20, 2014, p. 5 .
  34. ↑ Austria Press Agency: Bipa online shop has recently started making profits - Zenit at branches . April 22, 2015.
  35. ↑ The drugstore chain Bipa is running out of bosses . In: Salzburger Nachrichten . November 19, 2016, p. 20 .
  36. ↑ Retail: Bipa are running out of bosses. In: Courier. November 18, 2016, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  37. ↑ Rewe is turning Bipa upside down in Austria . Cheaper prices at Bipa to keep up. In: Neues Volksblatt . April 6, 2017.
  38. ↑ Christian Novacek: Bipa smells good and tastes healthy . In: Medianet . April 21, 2017, p. 58 .
  39. ↑ Verena Kainrath: drugstore chain Bipa takes care of its wounds after a crisis . In: The Standard . June 29, 2017, p. 16 .
  40. ↑ New coat of paint for Bipa . In: Courier . June 29, 2017, p. 9 .
  41. ↑ Bipa: New shop look . In: Medianet . April 14, 2017, p. 68 .
  42. ↑ Soft colors, natural materials, warm lighting . In: Kronen Zeitung . November 12, 2016, p. 20 .
  43. ↑ Distribution lines: Bipa. Rewe Group, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  44. ↑ Imprint on bipa.at
  45. ↑ Overview of the shareholdings of the group and other affiliated companies as of December 31, 2016. (No longer available online.) In: Annual Report 2016. Rewe Group, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; accessed on October 1, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rewe-group-geschaeftsbericht.de
  46. ↑ Nataša Nikolić: Erich Riegler leaves Bipa. In: Cash. February 28, 2018, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  47. ↑ More education and money for Bipa employees . In: The Standard . February 9, 2008, p. 43 .
  48. ↑ Bipa awarded . In: Medianet . February 14, 2008, p. 19 .
  49. ^ State coat of arms for Bipa . In: Vorarlberger Nachrichten . February 14, 2008, p. 1 .
  50. ↑ Jutta Maucher: Bipa: Two million loyal customers benefit from advantages . In: Medianet . March 8, 2006, p. 19 .
  51. ↑ Bipa online shop: Pickup on the same day. In: Handelszeitung. November 27, 2014, accessed October 1, 2017 .
  52. ↑ Barrier-free shopping experience . In: Medianet . December 4, 2015, p. 47 .
  53. ↑ Gabriela Schnabel: Drug Association wins lawsuit against Bipa . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . February 10, 1998, p. 1 .
  54. ↑ Evelyn Holley-Spiess: Union shoots itself at Bipa . In: WirtschaftsBlatt . July 23, 1999, p. 3 .
  55. ↑ Austria Press Agency: Chamber of Labor advises Bipa Card customers to compare prices . October 29, 2008.