Ahold (in full Koninklijke Ahold N.V.) is a major international retailer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ahold is an AEX-listed company on NYSE Euronext Amsterdam.

The early years

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.

Growth in the Netherlands

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."