• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at
• austrianindependent.com

Today

• Vienna - Johnny\'s Pub Quiz
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna - Cats
• Vienna - Andy Warhol
• Vienna - Laser Tag

© europics.at

08. 02. 12. - 19:00

• more Business news
• RSS Feed Business

08. 02. 12. - 19:00

Satek snatches Zielpunkt

A German businessman has taken over Zielpunkt.

Jan Satek, who has headed the supermarket chain for almost two years, announced yesterday (Tues) he paid a "seven-digit figure" to acquire the company in full. Satek was introduced as boss of the Zielpunkt board in July 2010 by German-Luxembourgian investment firm BluO.

Satek said yesterday he planned to carry out slight corrections of the firm’s current strategy. The German entrepreneur, who lives in Austria, identified a turnover increase from 540 million Euros in 2011 to 560 million Euros this year as his goal.

Zielpunkt failed to achieve a profit in each of the past six years. The company previously named Plus runs 300 branches in Austria. Around half of them are located in federal capital Vienna. Satek stressed yesterday he was convinced that Zielpunkt had good chances to prosper in the near future.

Zielpunkt offers a wide range of cut-price foodstuff. However, its product range also features brand name articles. Experts on the domestic supermarket sector think that little precise policies such as these kept Zielpunkt from getting closer to leading discount supermarkets Hofer and Lidl in the past years.

Zielpunkt, which has around 3,000 employees, is not only struggling to catch up with Hofer and Lidl. The enterprise is also challenged by the dominance of market leaders Billa and Spar Austria.

Gerhard Drexel, who heads Spar Austria, recently revealed that his company’s organic Natur Pur product range had achieved two-digit growth rates in the past years. Drexel added the plan was to continue focusing on promoting such foodstuff. Analysis group RegioPlan found that Austrian shops increased their turnover with sales of organic food and non-food products by 20 per cent from 2009 to 2010 to 1.05 billion Euros.

RegioPlan research shows that the number of supermarkets dropped from 5,700 in 2004 to 5,000 in 2011. The market expert said Billa, Spar Austria and its competitors were now mainly trying to optimise their networks after many years of quick expansion.

Rewe International is the number one on the domestic market ahead of Spar Austria and Hofer. Billa, Adeg, Penny and Merkur are all part of Rewe International. Discounter Hofer is owned by Aldi Süd – which belongs to German supermarket enterprise Aldi.

Hofer believes in its trusted concept of keeping the design and interior structure of its branches similar while Billa tried to win over former bakery chain customers by opening Billa Box shops in Vienna and Innsbruck. The small stores are located close to busy public transport stations and offer lemonades, coffee to go and freshly prepared snacks.

Austrian Times

Related articles: EU

1. Austrian economy recovers, says OECD

   » Business 2012-05-23

   The Austrian economy will manage to grow by nearly one per cent this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

2. AUA rules out Whitsun travel chaos

   » Business 2012-05-23

   The current conflict with the works committee does not negatively affect Austrian Airlines’ (AUA) booking figures, according to a spokesman.

3. Weak start for RWR Card

   » Business 2012-05-23

   People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner has admitted difficulties in introducing the Red White Red Card (RWR Card, Rot-Weiß-Rot Card).

more related articles tagged "EU"

Related articles: crisis

1. Austrian economy recovers, says OECD

   » Business 2012-05-23

   The Austrian economy will manage to grow by nearly one per cent this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

2. AUA rules out Whitsun travel chaos

   » Business 2012-05-23

   The current conflict with the works committee does not negatively affect Austrian Airlines’ (AUA) booking figures, according to a spokesman.

3. Pröll outpaces friends and foes in capability check

   » General News 2012-05-23

   Austria’s longest-serving governor has been identified as the most capable one in the opinion of citizens.

more related articles tagged "crisis"

Related articles: business boom

1. Austrian economy recovers, says OECD

   » Business 2012-05-23

   The Austrian economy will manage to grow by nearly one per cent this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

2. Economy evades recession

   » Business 2012-05-17

   The Austrian economy keeps recovering, according to the Institute for Economic Research (WIFO).

3. Post AG turnover up by six per cent

   » Business 2012-05-17

   Austrian postal services company Post AG has managed to increase its turnover and earnings.

more related articles tagged "business boom"

AUA rules out Whitsun travel chaos
The current conflict with the works committee does not negatively affect Austrian Airlines’ (AUA) booking figures, according to a spokesman.

Weak start for RWR Card
People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner has admitted difficulties in introducing the Red White Red Card (RWR Card, Rot-Weiß-Rot Card).

Pröll outpaces friends and foes in capability check
Austria’s longest-serving governor has been identified as the most capable one in the opinion of citizens.

Foul-mouthed MPs might face fines
Fritz Neugebauer has started another attempt to introduce a system of fees for abusive parliament delegates (MPs).

Car sharers should get cheap U-Bahn tickets say greens
People who support the environment by signing up for car sharing initiatives to cut down inner city congestion should get subsidised public transport.

Film festivals in Vienna
There are two film festivals back to back in Vienna this May and June. The "Let's CEE Film Festival" shows films from Central and Eastern Europe, while the "Vienna Independent Shorts" focuses on short films.

Salzburg builds new prison
Salzburg is to get a new prison.

Postwoman killed by express train
An 32-year-old postwoman was killed instantly when she apparently failed to see a stop sign on a train track - and was hit by a 120 kph express train at the Grimmenstein sortage depot in the Lower Austrian region of Neunkirchen.

Dirty water caused by excrement
Health experts are struggling to find the source of excrement that has contaminated water supplies at the town of Köstendorf in Salzburg province.

Man Utd chase Austrian ace
Manchester United have signalised interest in David Alaba.

Jobs in Austria