On April 25-26th 2014, I attended the “Kampüste Marketing” Conference at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, invited by the university’s Business Club. Like every year, we had a very enjoyable and productive weekend with students from Anadolu University as well as other universities. I want to congratulate everyone involved once more. We discussed various topics such as the retail world, shopper marketing. I would like to share some brief information from my presentation about the short history of the retail world.
**”The First Market Chain”**
My research on the first market chain took me back to America in the 1860s. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, which started with a focus on selling tea, leveraged the exotic flavors brought by ocean trade. By the 1900s, it had grown to 200 stores, continuing to expand by passing on the cost benefits of high-volume purchases to its customers.
What would we do without shopping carts, which are the most common four-wheeled vehicles after cars? Until Piggly Wiggly opened in 1916, there was no self-service market concept. For the first time, shoppers wandered between spaced-out aisles, almost visually browsing products before purchasing them. This chain of markets, which introduced turnstiles and provided baskets, spread across America with 2,500 stores within a few years.
**”The First Supermarket”**
The concept of a supermarket as we know it today started in 1930 with “King Kullen.” Located a car ride away from city centers, this expansive store surprised visitors with its diverse offerings, including garden and electrical appliances, even a pharmacy! King Kullen markets, still run by the Kullen family eighty years later, ranked 75th on America’s “Largest Retailers List” in 2007 with a turnover of 800 million USD.
In our country, state support for affordable markets as a solution to the high cost of living under Adnan Menderes led to the introduction of Migros and Gima. The “No Bargaining” shopping motto became established. In 1954, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality negotiated with Migros Cooperatives Union in Switzerland. Migros did not want a partnership but agreed to share knowledge and branding. Gima followed Migros in 1956 as an economic entity. Tansaş, established as a regulated store in 1970, was transformed into a supermarket chain by the Mayor of Izmir in 1984. In 1992, a brand from Izmir, Kipa, was founded with the participation of 100 people.
**”Foreign Capital”**
The arrival of foreign capital occurred at the end of 1989 with Prisunic. Opened in Istanbul’s Merter district, this 5,000 square meter store was a joint venture with Tekfen and the Metropolitan Municipality. Following insistence by Istanbul’s mayor, Nurettin Sözen, that he would run the market himself, Prisunic withdrew from Turkey, and the market continued briefly as Belpa for three months before closing due to a strike. The first Metro store opened in Güneşli in 1990, introducing the Cash&Carry concept to Turkey. Housewives taking their husband’s Metro card to shop at Metro navigated between boxes and forklifts with 30kg shopping baskets.
The significant change continued in 1994 in İçerenköy with the opening of the first Carrefour hypermarket. The attractiveness of the shopping center combined with Carrefour’s practices created a bustling space. In 1996-1997, the French Promodes group, in partnership with Doğuş, opened the Continent hypermarket in Beylikdüzü, marking its entry into Turkey. This area, then considered the outskirts of the city, featured a massive parking lot and a row of cash registers, surprising many with its scale and potential. As Doğuş withdrew from the partnership, a major merger in France led to Carrefour acquiring the Promodes Group. Consequently, Continent stores in Turkey became Carrefour. Real chose Ankara as its entry point into Turkey and opened its first store in 1998.
Thus, by 2000, the sector evolved through corporate mergers, regional battles, and segmented concepts.
This article by Emine Pura was published in the June 2014 issue of Retail Türkiye Magazine.