Standa
Encyclopedia
History
It was founded in 1931 as Magazzini Standard (Società Anonima Magazzini Standard) by a former executive of UPIMUPIM
UPIM is an Italian chain of midmarket department stores specialising in clothes for men, women and children, items for the home, and cosmetics and perfumes....
and subsequently renamed as Standa (acronym for Società Tutti Articoli Nazionali Dell'Abbigliamento). When it was bought by Montedison in 1966 it had 126 branches all over Italy. It was owned by Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
on July 1988, through Fininvest
Fininvest
Fininvest is a financial holding company controlled by Silvio Berlusconi's family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.-Structure:...
, who in 1998 sold the "non-food" stores to the Coin
Coin (department store)
Coin is an Italian upmarket department store chain dedicated to the worlds of apparel, home decorations, accessories and beauty. Its headquarters are located in Venezia Mestre.-History:...
due to a financial crisis. In 1999, the grocery stores chain was disbanded and the stores sold by geographical position: the stores based in Northern Italy were sold to REWE Group
REWE Group
REWE Group is a diversified retail and tourism group based in Germany. Its current turnover is around 50.91 billion euros. It operates in 14 European countries and employs over 325,000 people in its trading and travel divisions.- Trading :...
and those based on Southern Italy were sold to Conad
Conad
Conad is an Italian retail stores brand which operates one of the largest supermarket chains in Italy. Created in 1962, Conad is a cooperative system of entrepreneurs, dealing in large-scale distribution...
. The Standa trademark is now officially owned by REWE, who in 2009 has rebranded its supermarkets as Billa.
A Standa store was opened by REWE in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.