Press Releases Archive

 On the occasion of the 1st anniversary of the real,- Future Store, real,- looks back on a positive year. At the same time it also presents its latest customer service: the "Mobile Shopping List" for the mobile phone. Since the opening of the innovation workshop in May 2008 the latest technologies as well as innovative retail concepts have been tested and developed for application in the field.

 Exactly 100 days after the opening of the real,- Future Store in Toenisvorst, North Rhine-Westphalia, METRO GROUP and its sales division real,- draw a first interim balance:

 METRO GROUP proudly unveiled its new real,- Future Store today in Toenisvorst, North Rhine- Westphalia, Germany. The first customers to shop at the hypermarket of tomorrow were Dr. Eckhard Cordes, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO GROUP, and the chairmen of the boards of Deutsche Telekom AG and SAP AG, René Obermann and Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann. This latest innovation testing ground for the METRO GROUP Future Store Initiative celebrated its grand opening in the presence of a large number of guests from the worlds of politics and business.

 On 28 May 2008, METRO GROUP will open the real,- Future Store in Toenisvorst, North Rhine-Westphalia. At this hypermarket of the future the retail company and its sales brand real,- will test the latest technologies and innovative concepts for the shopping of the future. The objective is to optimally adapt the product assortment and service offer to the individual needs of the customers and advance modernization in the retail sector.

 METRO GROUP in late October completed a major step in the nation-wide operational deployment of the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in Germany. At 180 locations operated by the sales brands Metro Cash & Carry and Real as well as the central warehouses of MGL METRO GROUP Logistics, deliveries can now be recorded automatically. The remaining locations are scheduled for conversion next year. This is the largest operational rollout of this technology in the European retail sector.

 The METRO GROUP Future Store Initiative is represented at the 24th German Logistics Congress at the Hotel InterContinental in Berlin. On a space measuring some 650 square meters, the initiative is presenting itself together with its industry partners – including IBM, Oracle, Intermec Technologies and Procter & Gamble. The highlight and focal point of the exhibition is the interactive exhibit "The Retail Experience" developed specially for the congress. Here, trade fair visitors can enjoy an outlook into the future of logistics processes of tomorrow and find out more about the METRO GROUP and its sales brands.

 Kaufhof Warenhaus AG is rolling out Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) at its department store in Essen. In a pilot project in the men’s fashion department, some 30,000 products have been fitted with additional RFID labels – known as Smart Chips. The technology enables the company to speed up processes and increase availability of goods. But above all, RFID is the key to a range of innovative applications that increase customer satisfaction even further. "By using RFID at our Galeria Kaufhof sales brand, we are giving customers a totally new kind of shopping experience, and are considerably improving customer service," says Zygmunt Mierdorf, Member of the Management Board of METRO GROUP.

 METRO GROUP will further drive the deployment of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) over the next few months. By late 2007, the company will have equipped all Metro Cash & Carry wholesale stores in Germany and more than 100 Real hypermarkets with RFID-based incoming goods portals.

 At the CeBIT 2008, METRO GROUP presented its plans for extending the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Another 200 German locations operated by the sales brand Real as well as Metro Cash & Carry France will introduce the technology.