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 and is now a part of Salling Group.
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.
The first Bilka store The first Bilka store was the first low-cost store in Denmark. With a sale area of 10000 square meters and parking space for 1200 cars, it 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. 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 and vegetables department in Denmark.
Bilka stores There are Bilka stores located in the following cities: Year opened Store Area City Info 1970 Bilka 29.000 m2 Tilst 1972 Bilka 28.700 m2 Aalborg From 1996 a part of Aalborg Storcenter 1973 Bilka 27.800 m2 Hundige Part of Waves 1976 Bilka 22.500 m2 Odense 1982 Bilka 20.000 m2 Ishøj Part of Ishøj Bycenter 1988 Bilka 12.600 m2 Slagelse 1989 Bilka 19.900 m2 Næstved Part of Næstved Storcenter 1993 Bilka 14.800 m2 Holstebro 1993 Bilka 19.400 m2 Vejle Former A-Z 1993 Bilka 19.300 m2 Kolding Part of Kolding Storcenter 1994 Bilka 16.500 m2 Esbjerg Former A-Z 2001 Bilka 14.200 m2 Horsens 2003 Bilka 13.000 m2 Ørestad Part of Field's 2005 Bilka 13.400 m2 Viborg Former A-Z 2009 Bilka 11.800 m2 Sønderborg Former A-Z 2011 Bilka 10.400 m2 Herning Former A-Z 2012 Bilka Hillerød Part of Slotsarkaderne 2018 Bilka Randers Part of Randers Storcenter
See also Dansk Supermarked Gruppen A.P. Møller-Mærsk A-Z Netto føtex
References
External links Bilka's Website Dansk Supermarked Gruppen Webpage