Ahold is a Dutch international retailer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Ahold is an AEX-listed company on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam.The company started in 1887, with the founding of an Albert Heijn grocery store in Oostzaan, the Netherlands. The grocery chain expanded through the first half of the 20th century, and went public in 1948.Under the leadership of the founder’s grandsons Albert and Gerrit Jan Heijn, the company continued to make a significant impact on food retail in the Netherlands in the next four decades, pioneering self-service shopping, and the development of own brand and of non-food as a grocery store category. The company also influenced culinary development in the country, popularizing products such as wine, sherry and kiwi fruit, contributing to the introduction of the refrigerator in Dutch households and introducing convenience items such as ready meals and frozen pizzas to Dutch consumers.Albert Heijn became the largest grocery chain in the Netherlands during this time, and expanded into liquor stores and health and beauty care stores in the 1970s. In 1973, the holding company changed its name to "Ahold", an abbreviation of "Albert Heijn holding".In the mid 1970s, the company began expanding internationally, acquiring companies in Spain and the United States. Under a new leadership team, which for the first time did not include any members of the Heijn family, the company accelerated its growth through acquisitions in the latter half of the 1990s in Latin America, Central Europe, and Asia.Ahold N.V. received the designation “Royal” from Dutch Queen Beatrix in 1987, awarded to companies that have operated honorably for one hundred years.That same year Gerrit Jan Heijn, Ahold executive and only brother of Albert Heijn, was kidnapped for ransom and murdered.In November 2011, under the leadership of Dick Boer, appointed CEO in March 2011,Ahold announced a new phase of its growth strategy, “Reshaping Retail.” This strategy has six pillars - three designed to create growth and three to enable this growth. The six pillars are: increasing customer loyalty, broadening our offering, expanding geographic reach, simplicity, responsible retailing, and our people.
Net income € 1.01 billion (2012)
Total assets € 14.98 billion (2012)