Action (store)


Action is an, originally Dutch, international discount store-chain, owned by the British private-equity fund 3i. It sells low budget, non-food and some food products with long shelf lives. Action operates stores in seven countries — Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Austria, Luxembourg and Poland. As of 2012, Action is operating more than 1,000 stores and employing more than 38,000 employees. In 2013, Action had a revenue of just over a billion euros, which was a 14% rise compared to 2012 when they had a revenue of 873 million euro.

History

Action was founded by Gerard Deen and Rob Wagemaker, who were later joined by Boris Deen. They opened their first store in 1993 in Enkhuizen and started expanding by founding new stores that same year. In 2002, they had 94 stores; in 2005, the first store was opened in Belgium, in Rijkevorsel; and, in 2009, they opened their first store in Germany. In 2012, the company had 300 stores and opened its first store in France. In 2014, Action opened its 500th store. It continued growing exponentially. In November 2017, there were already more than 1,000 stores across Europe.