De Sperwer U.A., whose members trade as PLUS under licence from PLUS Holding B.V., is a Dutch co-operative supermarket chain headquartered in Utrecht. Its 259 members operate, as ‘independent entrepreneurs,’ 270 stores across the Netherlands.[1] In 2019 the members had total revenues of €2.6 billion[2] and an overall 6.5% share of the Dutch grocery market.[3]
History
The PLUS formula was created in 1988 as Plusmarkt, replacing De Sperwer's previous 4 = 6 supermarket chain. In 2001, Plusmarkt was rebranded as PLUS. Online shopping, with the option of home delivery or in-store collection, was introduced at some branches in 2015.
In 2006, as part of a consortium takeover with Sligro, De Sperwer purchased eighty branches of Edah from Laurus and converted them all to PLUS.[4]