Continente (supermarket)

Continente is a retail chain that belongs to Sonae Distribuição, the largest retailer in Portugal.[2] The hypermarket Continente chain is spread all over continental Portugal as well on Madeira and in the Azores. The supermarket chain Continente Modelo, formerly named just Modelo, has also a nationwide presence. Sonae Distribuição, SGPS, SA, is a subsidiary company of Sonae SGPS.

For the Peruvian airline, see Nuevo Continente.
Continente
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
FoundedMatosinhos, Portugal (1985 (1985))
FounderJoão Rui Rego
HeadquartersMatosinhos, Portugal
Number of locations
519 stores (2018)
ProductsGrocery
General merchandise
Financial services
RevenueIncrease €3.275 million (2010)[1]
Increase €147 million (2010)[1]
Number of employees
28,150 (2010)[1]
ParentSonae
Websitewww.continente.pt

History

Sonae Distribuição started in 1985 by the merger of two large retailers, Modelo and Continente. Modelo was owned by the Sonae holding, while Continente was the Portuguese and Spanish operation of the French retailer Promodès, known by the ensign Continent elsewhere.

Thus, it was part-owned by its French competitor, Carrefour, who sold their stake to Sonae for €345 million on 16 November 2004.[3]

In 2008, Carrefour sold its Portuguese retail ventures existing under the Carrefour ensign to Sonae. Continente used to have one branch in Dubai, which was later purchased by Carrefour. The Continente ensign disappeared from Spain after the 1999 Carrefour-Promodès merge.

Store formats
Continente supermarket at Colombo Shopping Center, Lisbon.

The supermarket chain operates three main store formats; regular Continente stores, Continente Bom Dia (convenience stores and smaller supermarkets in urban locations, designed for more frequent purchases of everyday life, 800 m2 (8,600 sq ft)) and Continente Modelo stores (hypermarkets of proximity, with an area of about 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft)).

At the end of its 2009/10 financial year Continente store portfolio was as follows.[1]

Format Number Total Space (m2)
Continente 53
Continente Modelo 137
Continente Bom Dia 147
Wells 133
BAGGA 87
Book.it 17
Other 8
Total 582 544,000

References
  1. Annual Report 2010 (PDF), Sonae, archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2011, retrieved 4 March 2012
  2. "Portugal's Biggest Retailer Selects SeeBeyond". ebiz. Archived from the original on 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  3. "Carrefour announces the divestment of its stake in Modelo Continente and the acquisition of 13 hypermarkets in Poland from Ahold" (PDF). Carrefour. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
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