The cornerstone for Rewe's success was laid 75 years ago. In 1927 Rewe Zentrale, founded by 17 purchasing cooperatives, commenced operations in Cologne. Rewe is still a cooperative commercial group. The more successful the Group is overall, the better the promotion work for about 3,000 independent Rewe retailers, who are owners of Rewe through their cooperatives.
Since the mid-1970s, chain stores have thus been important contributors to the good results of the Group. Today they achieve three-quarters of retail sales.
The Carrefour company is created by the Fournier and Defforey families. In France, Carrefour operates 216 hypermarkets, 1023 supermarkets, 1647 convenience stores, and 644 hard discount stores under the ED banner which will be reinforced by the acquisition of Penny Market (as of end of first quarter 2005) Paris, 24 June 2005.