From draper’s shop to retail group

Salling Group has roots all the way back to 1906, when merchant Ferdinand Salling opened a small draper's shop in Aarhus.

Ferdinand Salling was a man of great ambition, and in the following years he bought up several surrounding properties to realise the dream of a magnificent department store in the heart of Aarhus.

Since the first department store opened in 1948, our business has undergone significant development. What all our chains have in common to this day is that they always develop in line with the customers' needs. This was precisely the basis for opening føtex as the country's first supermarket in 1960 – to offer consumers a completely new way of shopping.

Following Ferdinand Salling's death in 1953, his son Herman takes over the business.

For Herman, the customer's needs always took centre stage – for him it was about making everyday life better for customers. At the same time, he was constantly focused on reducing costs, so he could ensure customers the best possible prices.

Throughout his lifelong career in retail, he gathered inspiration from abroad, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, and he was always proud to lead the industry in Denmark.

The three retail chains, føtex (1960), Bilka (1970) and Netto (1981), were all created to support new shopping habits and changes in lifestyle.

In 1999, Herman Salling retired, and shortly after his 60-year anniversary at the company in 2006, he passed away. His spirit remains a central part of our culture.

Since the first department store opened in 1948, our business has undergone major developments. Our chains have always developed in response to customer needs – such as when føtex offered consumers a whole new way to shop in 1960 with the country's first supermarket on Guldsmedgade in Aarhus. 

The opening of the first Bilka hypermarket attracted huge attention in 1970. Many pilgrimages took place to the country's first hypermarket in Tilst, on the outskirts of Aarhus, to experience what this new kind of store could offer.

In 1981, Netto became the first store to offer customers the most important everyday goods at low prices – and today the chain is successful in as many as three countries. In 1996, the first 24-hour Netto opened, which offered the most important everyday goods around the clock. These were mainly smaller Copenhagen stores, but after the success of 24-hour Netto stores in larger cities throughout the country, 24-hour Netto was phased out in 2016.

Following the acquisition of the remaining shares, Dansk Supermarked changed its name to Salling Group in June 2018. This new name encompasses what we are today and honours our history and founder.

With the acquisition of Tesco Poland, Salling Group acquired 300 stores and two distribution centres. The 300 stores were converted to Netto stores, thus doubling Netto’s business in Poland. Poland is Salling Group's largest growth market, and with this acquisition, a strategically important ambition was thus fulfilled.

For the first time in 40 years, we opened a new chain, BASALT, in ten locations in Denmark. As a result of rising energy prices and inflation, Salling Group tested the BASALT store concept to secure Danish households significantly lower prices for the most purchased daily goods. The low prices were possible because BASALT removed a large number of costs for energy and reduced the range and opening hours. As part of the test, the number of stores and products in the assortment has been continuously adjusted.

In the spring of 2023, Salling Group reevaluated the project. As energy costs have returned to a more normal level, and there is a prospect of lower inflation, Salling Group has brought forward the final evaluation of BASALT. The evaluation has concluded that customers prefer offers rather than buying basic goods in one place at fixed low prices, and therefore the test is closed. Several of the stores are reopening as Netto stores.