Historic Investment Programme Unveiled by Rewe
In a significant move for the Austrian retail sector, Rewe's parent company has announced plans to invest €1.5 billion in Austria by 2027. This investment, the largest in Rewe's history in the country, will see the construction of a new dry goods warehouse in Wiener Neudorf, with construction set to commence in 2026 and completion scheduled for 2030.
According to Marcel Haraszti, CEO of Rewe Austria, the focus is on "sustainable and qualitative growth". This investment will modernize existing stores and build a new semi-automated warehouse, aiming to enhance efficiency and service quality.
The investment decision comes amidst a changing landscape for Rewe in Austria. In 2022, the company implemented the "traders model" at 23 locations, with the Billa trader or the Billa traderess holding 80 percent of the open company (OG) and Billa 20 percent. This model, however, has no impact on the Adeg traders.
The Austrian market has seen shifts in market share. In 2020, Spar overtook Rewe as the market leader in the food retail sector, a position Rewe has since struggled to regain. Spar's market share increased by 0.1 percentage points to 36.9 percent in 2024, while Rewe lost 0.3 percentage points to 33.6 percent.
Despite this, Rewe has shown resilience, with its total gross turnover in Austria increasing by 4.8 percent to 10.94 billion euros in 2024. The company attributes this growth to a high share of promotions (around 40 percent) and private labels (32 percent).
Rewe's commitment to Austria is further demonstrated by its recent experimentation with self-service boxes. Currently, there are two boxes in operation—one in Wiener Neudorf and one in Vösendorf, with another opening in Vienna-Favoriten soon.
In addition to the Unternehmensgruppe Dr. Cornelius Grupp (CAG/TUBEX/PREFA), which recently conducted the largest private investment in Lower Austria, Rewe's investment of €600 million makes it the largest infrastructure project in the company's history in Austria.
The CEO, Marcel Haraszti, has stated that the €70 million cartel fine did not influence the investment decision. The company is also preparing an individual complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (EGMR) due to perceived violations of several rights.
Rewe Austria currently employs over 46,900 employees in around 2,500 branches across Austria. By 2030, around 200 Billa supermarkets are to be operated by independent traders.
The CEO of Billa/Bipa has positively assessed the liberalization of opening hours for self-service businesses announced by the new government, which could further boost Rewe's growth plans in Austria.
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