Private company

Billa

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author , Quelle konvertiert von Marsupilami, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Austrian multinational supermarket chain in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

BILLA (German pronunciation: ) is an Austrian supermarket chain that operates in Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. The company was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953. He sold his controlling interest to Germany's REWE Group in 1996.2 It is headquartered in Wiener Neudorf.1 It employed about 20,000 people in 2021.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1953Founded1
  • Industryretail1
  • HeadquartersWiener Neudorf1
  • Websitewww.billa.at
  • Legal formAktiengesellschaft1
  • LEI5299003P9WXG9T2P5Y253
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusLapsed (not renewed)3
  • Registered addressIndustriezentrum NÖ-Süd, Str 3, 2355 Wiener Neudorf, Austria3
  • Registered withFederal Ministry of Justice, 118556y3
17-05-31-Billa-Wien-Schwechat-RalfR-aDSC 1865
Photo: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons6

BILLA (German pronunciation: [ˈbɪla] ) is an Austrian supermarket chain that operates in Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe. The company was founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953. He sold his controlling interest to Germany's REWE Group in 1996.2

Corporate structure

Billa is part of a group headed by REWE Group. 32 entities, 8 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • REWE Group Cologne
    • Billa Wiener Neudorf, Austria
      • BILLA Marktküche Subsidiary · Austria
    • Apollo Resor AB Subsidiary · Stockholm
    • Billa Plus Subsidiary
    • BIPA Subsidiary · Wiener Neudorf, Austria
    • DERTOUR Group Subsidiary · Cologne, Germany
    • Glocken Bäckerei Subsidiary · Frankfurt, Germany
    • Nahkauf Subsidiary · Cologne, Germany
    • Penny Subsidiary · Cologne
    • Penny Market Subsidiary · Radonice, Czechia
    • REWE Subsidiary · Cologne
    • REWE Dortmund Subsidiary
    • Rewe International Subsidiary · Wiener Neudorf, Objekt 16, Austria
      • Billa Subsidiary · 100% · Říčany u Prahy, Czechia
      • Billa Bulgaria Subsidiary · 100% · Sofia, Bulgaria
        • Billa Dnes Subsidiary · Bulgaria
    • Standa Subsidiary · Carmignano di Brenta
    • Toom Baumarkt Subsidiary · Cologne, Germany
    • Billa Now Subsidiary · Austria
    • Billa Reality Subsidiary · Czechia
    • Billa stop & shop Subsidiary · Austria
    • Billa Unterwegs Subsidiary · Austria
    • Globus Subsidiary · Germany
    • REWE To Go Subsidiary · Germany
    • VIVA BILLA Subsidiary · Slovakia

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Karl Wlaschek in 1953.1

In 1953, Karl Wlaschek opened a discount perfume shop in the Vienna district of Margareten called WKW (Warenhandel Karl Wlaschek, translatable as Karl Wlaschek Trading). By 1960 WKW had 45 stores in Austria. In 1961 the chain was renamed Billa, a portmanteau of "billiger Laden", German for 'cheap shop', and it started selling food and then went over to self-service. In 1965 the company had grown to 109 stores. REWE Group acquired Billa in 1996.

From Wikipedia’s article on Billa (supermarket), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Leadership

Who has led Billa, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

  • supermarket

Listed on Wikidata.1

Present locations

Billa operates stores in four European countries:

Austria

Austria is the chain's home market. As of March 2019, Billa had 1,069 stores in the country, second only to SPAR's 1,538.

Czech Republic

The first Billa supermarket in the Czech Republic was opened on Stránského Street, Brno, on 26 October 1991. The company has 271 stores in the country and employs over 6,000 staff. Billa stores have an average sales area of 900 m2.

Slovakia

Billa opened its first store in Slovakia in 1993.

Read the full text

Bulgaria

The company opened its first supermarket in Bulgaria in 2000, and has since then expanded to cover 54 Bulgarian cities, operating a total of 173 supermarkets as of April 2026.

Former locations

Billa operated in other countries in the past.

Russia

The first Billa supermarket in Russia opened in 2004. In 2008, the network for the first time went outside of Moscow. In the same year, thirteen Yum-Yum supermarkets in Moscow were purchased.

In 2012, Billa bought the Russian supermarket chain Citistor (part of the former Ramstor chain).

Since 2008, all new Rewe Group stores in Russia in the "supermarket" format have been opened not under the Billa brand, but under the Biop (Billa Operations) brand. The reason is that only Billa Russia LLC had the right to develop the Billa brand in Russia, but one of the partners (22.5%)—the Russian holding "Marta"—since the end of 2008 stopped investing in the development of the company due to the beginning of the bankruptcy procedure. In June 2010, this package was purchased from "Marta".

On January 27, 2011, the official renaming of all the stores of the Biop chain to the Bill stores took place. In 2018, 151 Billa stores were opened in Russia. In 2021, before the deal with Lenta, there were 161 stores operating across Russia mostly in Moscow and surrounding cities. The holding company Lenta LLC announced on May 18 that it had struck a deal to acquire the supermarkets business of Billa Russia GmbH for 215 millions € in cash.

Ukraine

The first BILLA supermarket in Ukraine was opened on February 3, 2000, in Kyiv. Over the next 14 years, the company developed actively — in 2014, the number of its stores reached 39. BILLA supermarkets were represented in 16 cities in 9 regions of the country.

Since 2015, the number of supermarkets has started to decrease. In June 2017, the company announced the sale of 9 of its stores in the regions at once. As of September 2017, the chain of supermarkets of the Austrian concern had decreased to 17 supermarkets, of which 12 were in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, two each in Dnipro and Odesa, and 1 in Zhytomyr.

In March 2019, there were 30 BILLA supermarkets in Ukraine.

On September 16, 2020, it became known that the Austrian company "Rewe International AG" sold the Ukrainian chain of supermarkets to the Lithuanian company Consul Trade House UAB, the founder of Novus Ukraine LLC.

From Wikipedia’s article on Billa (supermarket), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Subsidiaries

  • BILLA Marktküche

From Wikidata.1

Employees over time

  • 202120,0001

Timeline

  1. 1953Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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