Editing Discount store

{{Short description|Retail store model for low prices}}
{{Globalize|1=article|2=United States|date=April 2021}}
'''Discount stores''' offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on [[bulk purchasing]] and efficient [[Logistics|distribution]] to keep down costs.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcsIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT465|page=465|title=Essentials of Marketing|author= Charles Lamb|publisher=Cengage Learning|date= 1 Jan 2011|isbn=978-1133171904}}</ref>
{{TOC limit|2}}

==Types (United States)==
Discount stores in the United States may be classified into different types:

===Hypermarkets (superstores)===
Discount [[superstore]]s such as [[Walmart]] or [[Target Corporation|Target]] sell general merchandise in a [[big-box store]]; many have a full grocery selection and are thus [[hypermarket]]s, though that term is not generally used in North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://adage.com/article/news/walmart-target-kmart-kohl-s-lead-retail-revolution/233379|title=Walmart, Target, Kmart, Kohl's Lead 50 Years of Retail Revolution|date=March 19, 2012|website=adage.com}}</ref> In the 1960s and 1970s the term "discount department store" was used, and chains such as [[Kmart]], [[Zodys]] and [[TG&Y]] billed themselves as such.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://transformco.com/about/kmart/kmart-history?/about/kmart/history.htm|title=Kmart History &#124; Kmart &#124; About Us &#124; Transformco|website=transformco.com}}</ref> The term "discount department store" or "off-price department store" is sometimes applied to big-box discount retailers of apparel and home goods, such as [[Ross Stores|Ross Dress for Less]], [[Marshalls]], [[TJ Maxx]], and [[Burlington (department store)|Burlington]].

===Category killers===
So-called [[category killer]] stores, specialize in one type of merchandise and sell it in [[big-box store]]s. Examples include:
*Apparel: [[Ross Dress for Less]], [[Marshalls]], [[Burlington (department store)|Burlington]], etc.
*Pet supplies: [[Petco]], [[PetSmart]]
*Home furnishings and accessories: [[Big Lots]], [[HomeGoods]]
*Office supplies: [[Staples Inc.|Staples]], [[Office Depot]], [[OfficeMax]]

===Warehouse clubs===
When membership is required, discount superstores are known as [[warehouse clubs]], and often require purchases of larger sizes or quantities of goods than a regular superstore. The main national chains, both of which have operations outside the U.S., are [[Costco]] and [[Sam's Club]].

===Discount grocery store===
Major discount [[grocery store]] retail chains in the U.S. include [[Aldi]], [[Lidl]], [[Save-A-Lot]] and [[Grocery Outlet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.today.com/food/what-lidl-discount-grocery-store-giving-aldi-run-its-money-t182688|title=What is Lidl? Why this discount grocery store is giving Aldi a run for its money|website=TODAY.com}}</ref> Currently [[Aldi]] and [[Lidl]] are the largest discount retailers in the world operating more than 25,000 discount stores worldwide between them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.coupiv.com/ |title=¤ Aldi &#124; Handelsdaten |access-date=2014-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903051806/http://www.handelsdaten.de/themen/387/aldi/ |archive-date=2014-09-03 }}</ref>

===Variety stores, dollar stores, five and dimes===
[[Variety store]]s in the U.S. today, are most commonly known as [[dollar store]]s such as [[Dollar General]], [[Family Dollar]] and [[Dollar Tree]], which sell goods usually only at a single price-point or multiples thereof (£1, $2, etc.). During the early and mid-twentieth century they were commonly known as "five and dimes" or "dime stores". Stores of the main chains, [[F. W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth's]], [[J. J. Newberry]] and [[Kmart|S. S. Kresge]], lined the shopping streets of U.S. downtowns and suburbs, and starting in the 1950s they also opened branches in shopping malls. These chains originally sold items for 5, 10 or 25 cents, but many later moved to a model with flexible price points, with a variety of general merchandise at discounted prices, in formats smaller than today's discount superstores.

==History==
===United States===
During the period from the 1950s to the late 1980s, discount stores were more popular than the average [[supermarket]] or [[department store]] in the United States. {{citation needed|date=July 2020}} There were hundreds of discount stores in operation, with their most successful period occurring during the mid-1960s in the U.S. with discount store chains such as [[Kmart]], [[Ames (department store)|Ames]], [[Two Guys]], [[Gibson's Discount Center]], [[E. J. Korvette]], [[Mammoth Mart]], [[Fisher's Big Wheel]], [[Zayre]], [[Bradlees]], [[Caldor]], [[Jamesway]], [[Howard Brothers Discount Stores]], [[Kuhn's-Big K]] (sold to [[Walmart]] in 1981), [[TG&Y]]{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} and [[Woolco]] (closed in 1983, part sold to Wal-Mart) among others.<ref name="Walmart Acquires Woolco">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Arkansas|first=Encyclopedia of|title=Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2135|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas|publisher=The Central Arkansas Library System|access-date=8 February 2013}}</ref>

[[Walmart]], [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]], and [[Target Corporation|Target]] all opened their first locations in 1962. Kmart was a venture of [[S. S. Kresge Company]] that was a major operator of [[dime stores]]. Other retail companies branched out into the discount store business around that time as adjuncts to their older store concepts. As examples, [[F. W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth]] opened a [[Woolco]] chain (also in 1962); [[Montgomery Ward]] opened [[Jefferson Ward]]; Chicago-based [[Jewel-Osco]] launched [[Turn Style]]; and Central Indiana-based [[L. S. Ayres]] created [[Ayr-Way]]. [[J. C. Penney]] opened discount stores called Treasure Island or [[The Treasury (store)|The Treasury]]; Sheboygan, Wisconsin based [[H. C. Prange Co.]] opened a chain of discount stores called [[Prange Way]], and Atlanta-based [[Rich's (department store)|Rich's]] owned discount stores called [[Richway]].

During the late 1970s and the 1980s, these chains typically were either shut down or sold to a larger competitor.  Kmart and Target themselves are examples of adjuncts, although their growth prompted their respective parent companies to abandon their older concepts (the [[S. S. Kresge]] [[five and dime]] store disappeared, while the [[Target Corporation|Dayton-Hudson Corporation]] eventually divested itself of its department store holdings and renamed itself Target Corporation). {{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

In the United States, discount stores had 42% of the overall retail market share in 1987; in 2010, they had 87%.<ref>"America's top stores." '''Consumer Reports'', June 2010, p. 17.</ref>

Many of the major discounters now operate "[[Hypermarket|supercenters]]", which adds a full-service grocery store to the traditional format. The [[Meijer]] chain in the Midwest consists entirely of supercenters, while Wal-Mart and Target have focused on the format as of the 1990s as a key to their continued growth. Although discount stores and department stores have different retailing goals and different markets, a recent development in retailing is the "discount department store", such as [[Sears Essentials]], which is a combination of the Kmart and Sears formats, after the companies' merger as [[Sears Holdings Corporation]].

===Canada===
[[F.W. Woolworth Company|Woolworths]] entered Canada in the 1920s, the stores were converted to the [[Foot Locker]], [[Champs Sports]] and other stores in 1994. [[Kmart|Kresge's]], a competitor to Woolworth's entered the Canadian market in 1929.

[[Zellers]] was founded in 1931, and was acquired by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] in 1978. [[Giant Tiger]] opened its first store in [[Ottawa]] in 1961, modeled on [[F.W. Woolworth Company|Woolworths]]. [[Winners]] was founded in 1982 in Toronto, and sells off-price brand clothing. [[Costco]] entered Canada in 1986.  In 1990, the American chain [[Walmart]] purchased the [[Woolco]] chain in Canada and converted the stores into Walmarts. [[Dollarama]] was founded in Quebec in 1992.  In 1998, [[Zellers]] bought out [[Kmart]] Canada, taking over its stores.

In 2011, [[Marshalls]], owned by the American [[TJX Companies]], entered Canada, and [[Zellers]] sold most of its stores to [[Target Corporation|Target]]. [[Target Canada]] filed for bankruptcy in 2015, selling its stores to [[Walmart]], [[Lowe's]] and [[Canadian Tire]].

In 2016, the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] started opening Saks Off 5th locations to sell off-price brands. American off-price chain [[Nordstrom Rack]] opened its first Canadian location in [[Vaughan Mills]] in 2018.

*Food Basics discount supermarket.
*No frills discount supermarket.

==Transnationals==
* [[Aldi]]
* [[Bim (company)| BİM]]
* [[Costco]]
* [[Daiso]]
* [[Dia (supermarket chain)]]
* [[Lidl]]
* [[Netto (store)]]
* [[Penny (supermarket)|Penny]]
* [[TJX Companies]]
* Usave
* [[Walmart]]

==By country==
Outside the United States and Canada, the main discount store chains listed by country are as follows:

===Australia===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Big W]] owned by [[Woolworths Group (Australia)|Woolworths Group]]
*[[Kmart Australia|Kmart]], [[Target (Australia)|Target]] owned by [[Wesfarmers]]
*[[Harris Scarfe]] owned by [[Spotlight Group]]
*[[The Reject Shop]]
*Cheap as Chips, Dollars and Sense, Shiploads, Red Dot.
===Albania===
*Diambe Market
===Argentina===
* [[Dia (supermarket chain)|Dia]]

===Austria===
* [[Lidl]]
* [[Aldi|Hofer]]
* Penny

===Angola===
*Usave

===Belgium===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Botswana===
*Usave

===Bosnia and Herzegovina===
*[[Lidl]]

===Brazil===
* [[Dia (supermarket chain)]]

===Bulgaria===
*[[Lidl]]
*Kam Market

===Chile===
*Superbodega acuenta

===China===
*[[Aldi]]

===Colombia===
* Tiendas D1
* [[Jerónimo Martins|ARA (Jerónimo Martins)]]
* Dollarcity
* Ísimo, formerly Justo Y Bueno

===Costa Rica===
*Pali
*Pequeno Mundo

===Croatia===
*[[Eurospin]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Cyprus===
*[[Lidl]]

===Czechia===
*[[Lidl]]

===Denmark===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]
*[[REMA 1000]]

===Greece===
*[[Lidl]]

===Guatemala===
*Super del Barrio
*Despensa Familiar
*Dollar City
*Econo Super

===Ecuador===
*Tiendas Tuti
===Egypt===
* BIM

===El Salvador===
*{{proper name|Despensa Familiar}}
*Dollar City

===Estonia===
*[[Lidl]]

===Eswatini===
*Usave
*Boxer superstores

===Finland===
[[File:Tokmanni.jpg|thumb|[[Tokmanni]] in [[Tampere]], Finland]]
* [[Lidl]]
* HalpaHalli
* [[Kärkkäinen (chain store)|Kärkkäinen]]
* [[Puuilo]]
* [[Tokmanni]]

===Germany===
Major chains of discount supermarkets in Germany are [[Aldi]], [[Lidl]], [[Netto Marken-Discount]], [[Netto (store)]], [[Norma (supermarket)|Norma]] and [[Penny (supermarket)|Penny]].

===Honduras===
*{{proper name|Despensa Familiar}}

===Latvia===
*[[Lidl]]

===Hungary===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Ireland===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]
===Kenya===
*Jaza Discount
===Lithuania===
*[[Lidl]]

===Luxembourg===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Italy===
Italy has numerous discount supermarkets, including [[Lidl]] and [[EuroSpin]], the chains with the largest number of stores,{{cn|date=July 2022}} and [[Aldi]], [[Discount Dial]], [[Dpiù]], [[MD Discount]], [[Penny (supermarket)|Penny]], [[Todis]] and [[Tuodì]].

===Japan===
Japan has numerous discount stores, including [[Costco]], [[Daiso]], [[Don Quijote (store)]] and The Price (owned by [[Ito Yokado]]).

===Malaysia===
*Eco-shop
*Mr Dollar

===Malta===
*[[Eurospin]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Malawi===
*Usave

===Mexico===
*Tiendas Neto
*Tiendas 3B
*Superissste
*Waldo's
*[[Bodega Aurrera]]
*[[PesoRama]] (JOi Dollar Plus stores)

===Lesotho===
*Usave

===Morocco===
* BIM

===Mozambique===
*Usave

===Namibia===
*Usave

===Netherlands===
[[Action (store)|Action]], [[Euroland (store)|Euroland]], [[Solow (store)|Solow]], [[Blokker Holding|Big Bazar]] and [[Zeeman (store)|Zeeman]]. In addition, the German discount supermarkets [[Lidl]] and [[Aldi]] both operate in the country.

===New Zealand===
*PAKnSAVE

===North Macedonia===
*KAM Market
*Market Kipper
*Stokomak
*Lidi

===Norway===
*[[REMA 1000]]

===Nicaragua===
*{{proper name|Despensa Familiar}}

===Peru===
*Tiendas Mass
*DollarCity

===Philippines===
*[[Dali Everyday Grocery]]
*[[O!Save]]

===Poland===
[[File:The ALDI discount store at Rondabout of Olympians from Tomaszów, in Tomaszów Mazowiecki with a population of 60,000. The Łódź Voivodeship.jpg|thumb|ALDI in [[Tomaszów Mazowiecki]], Poland]]
Discount supermarkets cover about 30% of food sales in Poland. Main chains include [[Biedronka]], [[Lidl]], [[Netto (store)|Netto]], and [[Aldi]].

===Portugal===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]
*[[Minipreço]] / [[Dia (supermarket chain)]]
*[[Plus (supermarket)|Plus]] sold to [[Jerónimo Martins]]

==== [[Netto (Les Mousquetaires)|Netto]] converted into [[Intermarché]] ====

===Panama===
* El Machetazo

===Romania===
*[[lidl]]
*Penny

===Russia===
*[[Lenta (retail)|365+]]
*[[X5 Group|Chizhik]]
*Dobrocen
*[[Dixy]]
*[[Fix Price]]
*[[Magnit|Moya Tsena]]
*Nizkotsen
*[[Magnit|Pervy Vybor]]
*Pobeda

* [[Svetofor]]
** Mayak (larger stores)

==== Former ====

* [[Atac]]
* Holdi
* [[Kopeyka (supermarket)|Kopeyka]]

===Serbia===
*[[Lidl]]
*[[Svetofor]]
*Super Discount
*Leon Discount

===Slovakia===
*[[Lidl]]

===Slovenia===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Eurospin]]
*[[Lidl]]

===South Africa===
*Wellsave
*Devland Hyper
*Foodeez
*Looters Slashed price warehouse 
*Usave
*Boxer Superstores
*Deals Superstores

===Spain===
* [[Dia (supermarket chain)]]
* [[Aldi]]
* [[Lidl]]
* [[Svetofor|Mere]]

===Sweden===
*[[Biltema]]
*[[DollarStore]] owned by [[Tokmanni]]
*[[Lidl]]
*{{ill|Rusta (company)|lt=Rusta|sv|Rusta}}
*[[ÖoB]]

===Switzerland===
*[[Aldi]]
*[[Lidl]]

===Turkey===
*[[BİM]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.bim.com.tr/Category/108/about-us.aspx|title=Bim A.Ş. > Welcome...|website=english.bim.com.tr|access-date=2017-08-21}}</ref> [[File (company)]]
*[[A101 (company)]]
*Şok Market owned by [[Yıldız Holding]]
*Hakmar

===Ukraine===
* ATB

===United Kingdom===
{{See|List of discount shops in the United Kingdom}}
*[[Aldi]]
*[[B & M]]
*[[Farmfoods]]
*[[Home Bargains]]
*[[Lidl]]
*[[Poundland]]
*[[Poundstretcher]]

===Venezuela===
*Tiendas Ovejita
*Tiendas Daka

== See also ==
* [[Charity shop]]
* [[Dollar store]] ([[five and dime]], [[variety store]])
* [[Everyday low price]]
* [[Flea market]]
* [[Garage sale]]
* [[Hypermarket]]
* [[Jumble sale]]
* [[No frills]]
* [[Retail#Types of retail outlets|Types of retail outlets]]
* [[Warehouse club]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Nelson, Walter Henry, ''The Great Discount Delusion'', New York:  D. McKay, 1965.
{{Template:Retail}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Discount Store}}
[[Category:Retail formats]]
[[Category:Discount stores| ]]