Around 3000 Supermarkets Bearing the New Uniform REWE Brand

Cologne, 21.09.06

More power through common sales brand - More than 140 REWE store grand openings in the coming year - Increased store base density by the addition of over 600 new stores by 2011 - Modernisation and internationalisation course in place

In a new effort to capture a greater market share of the German food trade, REWE Group is on the verge of launching its "Big Bang" by re-flagging around 3,000 supermarkets under the new REWE sales brand nationwide next Monday (September 25) and by considerably increasing the density of its store base with the addition of 600 stores by the year 2011. "We will make substantial investments in our full-range business in Germany over the coming years. For 2007 alone we have planned 140 new store openings and 60 additional expansions of existing REWE stores with investments of over 220 million euros - and even more are planned for 2008", said REWE Group CEO Alain Caparros on Thursday in Cologne. In the medium term, the intensified force of the now nationally unified REWE brand and of the new openings will increase its market share from the current 17.8 per cent to 20.8 per cent, explained Caparros, who was elected the new CEO for REWE Group on 1 September 2006.

"The Supervisory Board unanimously approved the modernisation course to be pursued at REWE Group. The Management Board stands behind the overall strategy as developed. Yet this does not mean that we will not refocus some of our efforts", Caparros explained. The main pillars of the future strategy lie in developing the core food trading business by strengthening the supermarkets and hypermarkets along with the discount store chains while expanding the other core business of travel and tourism. As for continuing the programme of internationalisation, REWE Group had not other choice, the CEO pointed out. "We will move our internationalisation efforts forward. Internationalisation is based on our flourishing core businesses in the German and Austrian domestic markets", Caparros pointed out. Expansion into other countries will not cut into the investments needed for the traditional domestic businesses. "We will concentrate our investments on increasing store base density in those countries where we are already present, and - for the time being - we will not spend additional millions on conquering new national markets", Caparros said. The focus here will be especially on Russia and Poland, where 130 million euros are to be invested in expansion in the next year alone.

The Management Board has set the stage for further developing its food trading in Germany by introducing several reform projects such as the reorientation of the sales districts. Even in future, REWE Group will not ease up on implementing the reforms already agreed upon. "We will involve on our own experts more deeply in the continued implementation of our reforms in practice", said Caparros, while at the same time emphasising the basic co-operative values behind REWE Group - which above all includes independent entrepreneurial responsibility. "This also means having only as much centralisation as necessary and as much local independence as possible."

Starting September 25: "REWE - A Little Better Every Day."

With its one-time, nationwide "Big Bang" on September 25 as yet unmatched in German food retailing, over 3,000 REWE Group stores will open their doors in their "new REWE" appearance and offering many new changes and improved services for customers. Brands like HL, miniMAL, Stüssgen, Otto Mess or Petz will thus come under the same brand umbrella. "We see this event - which will point us in a new direction - as also entailing an innovative set of product-range and pricing policies for the future," said Management Board Member Dr. Stephan Fanderl, in charge of full-range stores at REWE Group. The Cologne-based company will invest as much as 60 million euros in the conversion and in an accompanying comprehensive and - for the first time - nationwide advertising campaign in print, radio and television.

"We are going to be the strong brand in German retailing", Fanderl emphasised. The products sold will be oriented to customers' shopping lists. "We purchase what our customers want to buy". Brand-name products, regional wares and private label brands will be the pillars of REWE’s product variety. "In future, we will expand our private label brands - at all price levels, from discount products to our own range of premium products", the Board Member announced.

Throughout Germany REWE supermarkets will become synonymous with quality and good cost-conscious shopping by living up to the new brand motto, "REWE. A Little Better Every Day."

REWE Group is the number three in European food trading with a turnover of 41.7 billion euros, 260,000 employees and 11,800 stores in 14 countries throughout Europe. The firm is the second-largest food retailer in Germany with a turnover of 30 billion euros, 180,000 employees and 8,900 stores.

The New REWE: Facts and Figures on the New Sales Brand

The conversion of around 3,000 stores throughout Germany in preparation for the new REWE sales brand also poses logistical challenges. Over 350 experts and much special equipment will be in action on Monday, September 25, for the announcement to hold true: The new REWE is here. Beforehand, the workers have to prepare 24,000 square metres of acrylic glass to be exchanged bearing the new REWE logo on the illuminated store signs. This is equivalent to the area of four football pitches. Swapping out the "little men’s frieze" labels in the miniMAL stores and the red-yellow "basket ribbons" in the REWE stores in favour of the new future-oriented design posed a considerable challenge. It required processing nearly 80,000 square metres of sheet aluminium - enough to cover nearly 80 linear kilometres.

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REWE GROUP-Corporate Communications
Tel.: 0221 - 149-1050
E-Mail: presse(at)rewe-group.com

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