De Sperwer U.A.
PLUS
FormerlyPlusmarkt
TypeCoöperatie uitsluiting van aansprakelijkheid (Co-operative society exempt from liability)
IndustryRetailing
Founded1988 (1988)
Headquarters
Utrecht
,
Netherlands
Number of locations
270 shops (2020)
Area served
Netherlands
Revenue€2.61 billion (2019)
Members259 shop owners (2020)
Websitewww.plus.nl

De Sperwer U.A., whose members trade as PLUS (Dutch pronunciation: [plʏs]) under licence from PLUS Holding B.V., is a Dutch co-operative supermarket chain headquartered in Utrecht. Its 259 members operate, as ‘independent entrepreneurs,’ 270 stores across the Netherlands.[1] In 2019 the members had total revenues of €2.6 billion[2] and an overall 6.5% share of the Dutch grocery market.[3]

History

The PLUS formula was created in 1988 as Plusmarkt, replacing De Sperwer's previous 4 = 6 supermarket chain. In 2001, Plusmarkt was rebranded as PLUS. Online shopping, with the option of home delivery or in-store collection, was introduced at some branches in 2015.

In 2006, as part of a consortium takeover with Sligro, De Sperwer purchased eighty branches of Edah from Laurus and converted them all to PLUS.[4] De Sperwer also unsuccessfully attempted to take over Super de Boer and Emté in 2009 and 2018 respectively.[5]

On 6 September 2021 it was announced the supermarket chains Plus and Coop have reached an agreement on a merger. The stores will continue under the name Plus, the name Coop will disappear. The combined organization is expected to become operational early next year.[6]

Operations

Stores operated under the PLUS brand are owned and operated by 259 ‘independent entrepreneurs’ who are all members of the De Sperwer co-operative.[1] PLUS Holding B.V. licenses the PLUS formula to them and runs large-scale marketing campaigns on their behalf.[7] The chain's market power is increased through membership of the Superunie purchasers’ co-operative.[7] The PLUS organization has its headquarters in Utrecht. It also operates three national and three regional distribution centres.[1]

Awards

In a 2013 survey by MarketResponse, PLUS was named ‘most customer-friendly company in the Netherlands.’[8] It was also ‘most customer-friendly supermarket’ in the same survey in 2018[9] and 2019.[10]

PLUS has scored highest among Dutch supermarkets in annual surveys by GfK several times: in the meat category each year from 2017 to 2019;[11][12] in the bread category in 2019;[13] in the corporate social responsibility category each year from 2015 to 2019;[14] and in the wine category each year from 2013 to 2018.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "PLUS als organisatie". PLUS (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "Supermarktketen-plus-verhoogt-omzet-in-2019". PLUS (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Marktaandelen". Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Geschiedenis huidige supermarktformules". Levensmiddelenkrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  5. ↑ de Waard, Peter (9 March 2018). "Jumbo krijgt Emté, plus grijpt opnieuw mis" [Jumbo gets Emté, plus misses again]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Plus and Coop merge into a supermarket organization". netherlandsnewslive.com. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  7. 1 2 "PLUS Retail". PLUS (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Eilander, Elisabeth (24 September 2013). "PLUS klantvriendelijkste bedrijf van Nederland" [PLUS customer-friendliest business in the Netherlands]. Adformatie (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  9. ↑ "'Coolblue en Plus zijn het klantvriendelijkst'" [‘Coolblue and Plus are the customer-friendliest’]. RetailNews (in Dutch). 20 April 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  10. ↑ Essenburg, Diane (29 May 2019). "Plus voor tweede keer 'klantvriendelijkst'" [Plus ‘customer-friendliest’ for second year]. Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "Plus heeft opnieuw de beste vleeswarenafdeling" [Plus has the best meat products department again]. Distrifood (Sponsored content) (in Dutch). 17 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Essenburg, Diane (16 September 2019). "Plus voor derde keer beste in vleeswaren" [Plus best in meat products for third time]. Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  13. ↑ Meijsen, Joep (18 September 2019). "GfK Versrapport: Plus op 1 in brood" [GfK fresh report: Plus no. 1 in bread]. Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Meijsen, Joep (19 March 2019). "Plus wint mvo-rapport voor vijfde keer op rij" [Plus wins CSR report for fifth time in a row]. Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Maarse, Henri (2 May 2017). "Plus opnieuw beste wijnsupermarkt" [Plus again best wine supermarket]. Distrifood (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  16. ↑ "Klanten roepen PLUS uit tot Beste Wijnsupermarkt" [Customers call out PLUS as Best Wine Supermarket] (Press release) (in Dutch). 8 May 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
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