Bilka

Bilka is a Danish chain of hypermarkets. The first store opened in 1970 in Tilst, a suburb of Aarhus. The chain was founded by Herman Salling, but is now a part of Salling Group.

For other uses, see Bilka (disambiguation).
Bilka
IndustryRetail
GenreHypermarket
Founded1970
FounderHerman Salling
Headquarters
Højbjerg
,
Denmark
Area served
Denmark
ParentDansk Supermarked Gruppen
WebsiteBilka.dk

Name

The name Bilka is derived from the German Billiges Kaufhaus (low-price department store), which its founder, Herman Salling had encountered during his business trips to West Germany.[1]

The First Bilka Store

The first Bilka store was the first low-cost store in Denmark. With sale area of 10000 square meters and parking space for 1200 cars, this was also the largest store in Denmark.

The opening of the first Bilka store brought revision to the regional plan for Great Aarhus from 1954.[2] According to that plan the area of Aarhus was supposed to have 2 new centers, but after the opening of the first Bilka store, this plan was no longer economically viable.

The building of the store was approved by Brabrand-Årslev Parish, since the land was part of the Brabrand Parish.The developer of the store, however decided he wanted to create remote storage for Salling Group. That is the reason why the Bilka store was functioning as an open stock market with most of the goods stocked in pallets and forklifts in the aisles during open hours.

At the beginning of 2010, the first Bilka store celebrated its 40th birthday and it was completely renovated. All of the old 31 cash registers, from 1970, were replaced with 28 new modern ones and 8 self-service terminals. Furthermore, all the departments were completely renovated and today, this store has the largest Fruits & Vegetables department in Denmark.

Bilka stores

There are Bilka stores located in the following cities:

Year openedStoreAreaCityInfo
1970Bilka29.000 m²Tilst
1972Bilka28.700 m²AalborgFrom 1996 a part of Aalborg Storcenter
1973Bilka27.800 m²HundigePart of Waves
1976Bilka22.500 m²Odense
1982Bilka20.000 m²IshøjPart of Ishøj Bycenter
1988Bilka12.600 m²Slagelse
1989Bilka19.900 m²NæstvedPart of Næstved Storcenter
1993Bilka14.800 m²Holstebro
1993Bilka19.400 m²VejleFormer A-Z
1993Bilka19.300 m²KoldingPart of Kolding Storcenter
1994Bilka16.500 m²EsbjergFormer A-Z
2001Bilka14.200 m²Horsens
2003Bilka13.000 m²ØrestadPart of Field's
2005Bilka13.400 m²ViborgFormer A-Z
2009Bilka11.800 m²SønderborgFormer A-Z
2011Bilka10.400 m²HerningFormer A-Z
2012BilkaHillerødPart of Slotsarkaderne
2018BilkaRanders

See also

References
  1. "Bilka FAQ (in Danish)". Archived from the original on 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
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