Makro

Makro is a Dutch international brand of warehouse clubs, also called cash and carry stores. Makro was founded by SHV Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate based in Utrecht in partnership with German company Metro AG, with the first warehouse club opened in Amsterdam in 1968.

Currently, ownership of the worldwide chain of stores is split between different companies like Metro AG in Europe (except UK), SHV Holdings in South America (except Peru) and CP All in Asia. In many countries, access to stores is restricted to business customers, and the stores are not open to the general public.

History

SHV originated in 1896 from a merger between a number of large coal mining companies, some of which had been active since the 18th century.

In 1968, the first Makro store opened in Amsterdam. In the following years more stores opened in the Netherlands and several other European countries. In April 1971 the first Makro in the UK opened in Eccles, Manchester. Also in 1971, the first Makro store outside Europe opened in South Africa.[1]

Store locations

European stores can be found in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Stores have spread to Colombia, South Africa, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Makro stores formerly existed in Brazil, China, Greece, Belgium, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

Netherlands

Makro Netherlands operates 17 stores across the Netherlands, with seven of the stores also containing a fuel station.[19] Makro Netherlands is owned by the Metro Group. Since January 2018, The Chief Executive Officer is Paulo Peerenboom.[20]

South Africa

Massmart (wholly owned by Walmart since 2020) operates 46 Makro stores in South Africa (23 general warehouse stores, and 23 Makro Liquor stores).[21] Customers need a free Makro card to make purchases, and can obtain one in store or online. Makro South Africa is headquartered in Sandton, Gauteng, and imports certain Walmart private label items for the South African market.[22]

The retail chain sells, among other things, electronics, major appliances, camping gear, sports equipment, homeware, food, clothing, and alcohol.[23] In 2024 and 2025, it was found in a local news outlet's study to be the cheapest out of 6 major South African grocery retailers.[24]

Spain

Makro España was founded in 1972
Operates 37 stores in 15 different regions[26]
Had a total of 3700 employees (2021)
2021 sales was €1097 million[27]

Thailand

CP Axtra Public Company Limited was established in 1988. At the end of April 2020 there were 100 Makro stores and Makro FoodService stores in operation, serving a registered customer base of 2.6 million.[28] Revenues for 2020 were 210 billion baht with a net profit of 6.2 billion baht.[29] Siam Makro shares are traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).[30]

In 2013, Siam Makro was purchased by Charoen Pokphand Group for US$6.6 billion.[31] CP Axtra (known as Siam Makro until 2023) is owned by CP ALL, a subsidiary of CP Group.

United Kingdom

Makro UK operates 30 branches across the United Kingdom.[32] Since 2012 Makro UK has been owned by Booker Group,[33] and 11 of the Makro branches now operate as a combined Booker/Makro.[34]

Venezuela

SVH operates 35 Makro warehouse clubs[35] across the country and also have a supermarket chain named Mikro with 19 stores.[36]

producttype	Warehouse clubs Cash and carry stores
currentowner	SHV Holdings (South America) InRetail (Peru) Metro AG (Europe) Tesco/Booker Group (UK) Massmart (South Africa) CP Axtra (Asia)
introduced	1968 (Netherlands)
related	Metro
markets	Europe • Czech Republic • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Slovakia • Spain • United Kingdom South America • Argentina • Colombia • Peru • Venezuela Asia • Cambodia • Myanmar • Thailand Africa • South Africa