Irma (supermarket)
Irma A / S is a Danish supermarket chain . Along with Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer, it is one of the oldest grocery chains in the world. It currently operates 69 branches, exclusively on Zealand (as of 2018). The chain has belonged to the Coop Danmark Group since 1982 . In 2008 Irma's total turnover was 2.251 billion DKK (around 300 million euros) and profit before tax was 9.5 million euros. Irma employs more than 1,000 full-time employees.
history
Irma goes back to a grocery store at Ravnsborggade 13 in Copenhagen - Nørrebro , which Carl Schepler (1870–1942) opened in 1886. In the basement of butter, margarine, eggs and milk were sold. Since Schepler wanted to expand, but the law made goods from his own production a condition for further sales branches, Schepler got into agriculture. From 1904 stores opened not only all over Denmark, but also in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg . The northern German chain should soon have 21 stores. They had to close again in the 1930s. Irma was only able to survive in the (now Danish) North Schleswig until the 1960s.
After Schepler's death, the chain was taken over by four Danish egg wholesalers. Irma was one of the first supermarket chains to introduce the best-before date , advertise with offers of the week, advertise by direct mail, on the radio, and design on plastic bags. In 1950 the first branch was converted into a self-service shop . In 1966 the company headquarters moved from Ravnsborggade to Rødovre . In 1982 Irma was sold to the Association of Danish Consumer Associations ( Fællesforeningen for Danmarks Brugsforeninger ). Business was concentrated in Copenhagen and Zealand. A final offensive by the company to gain a permanent foothold on Funen and Jutland failed in the mid-1990s. The supermarket chain ran into financial difficulties, but public protests prevented the company from being sold.
Since 2001 sales and profits have been developing positively again. They rely on PVC-free packaging and a wide range of organic goods . With an ecological profile and high quality, particularly well-to-do “lifestyle” customers are addressed. In 2008 Irma received the MMM-prisen , the prestigious award of the Danish retail industry .
Company logo
In 1907 the architect Sofus Greiffenberg designed a company logo in the form of a girl in a blue dress. His three-year-old daughter Else had modeled for the "Irma girl". The company logo is adapted to fashion trends over time: in 1942 by Bent Mackeprang , in the 1970s by Mackeprang and Erik Ellgaard Frederiksen and in 2003 by Connie Lyst . It has been a registered trademark since 1943.
literature
Alfred Josefsen : Kære Irma. It's all about people , Køge 2004. ISBN 8799033208
Web links
- Irma Official Website (Danish)