Kaufland is a German hypermarket chain, part of the Schwarz Gruppe which also owns Lidl. The hypermarket directly translates to English as "buy-land." It opened its first store in 1984 in Neckarsulm and quickly expanded to become a major chain in what was formerly West Germany. It operates over 1,500 stores[3] in Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova.[4]
History
The history of Kaufland began when Joseph Schwarz entered the Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co. company as a shareholder in 1930, which was then renamed Lidl & Schwarz KG.[5] The company expanded its range from fruit to a food and goods wholesaler for the Heilbronn-Franken region.[6]