Germanos Chain of Stores
Encyclopedia
The Germanos Chain of Stores is a multinational chain of retail electronic goods vendors. They specialize in offering high-end electronic devices such as computers, digital cameras, mp3 players and cellular phones. They also offer fixed and mobile telephony as well as internet solutions.
They belong to the Germanos Group
which in turn is indirectly owned by the Greek
mobile operator Cosmote
.
Since it has expanded into the Balkans
and Eastern Europe
. In 2006 the holding company of the Germanos stores was bought by a subsidiary of the Greek mobile operator Cosmote
, Cosmoholding Cyprus LTD.
. Later, in 2005 Vodafone Greece
gave permission to Germanos to offer its connections. In 2006 when a subsidiary of Cosmote bought the company, Wind and Vodafone pulled their support from the stores, stating that it would lead to unfair treatment towards them in order to enhance support to its in-house mobile operator.
Germanos retail stores are found in:
They belong to the Germanos Group
Germanos Group
-History:The Group started as a battery shop in Athens in 1980 and since then has expanded into retail when it opened its first store by the same year.In 2003 Germanos in a joint operation with Folli Follie bought a 40% stake of the Hellenic Duty Free shops....
which in turn is indirectly owned by the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
mobile operator Cosmote
Cosmote
COSMOTE is the largest mobile network operator in Greece, with 7.9 million subscribers. The company is headquartered in Athens and it is a fully owned subsidiary of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization , the incumbent telecommunications provider in Greece...
.
History
The Germanos Group started as a battery shop in Athens in 1980, but then the subsidiary Germanos Stores was created to take charge of the retail points of the company.Since it has expanded into the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. In 2006 the holding company of the Germanos stores was bought by a subsidiary of the Greek mobile operator Cosmote
Cosmote
COSMOTE is the largest mobile network operator in Greece, with 7.9 million subscribers. The company is headquartered in Athens and it is a fully owned subsidiary of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization , the incumbent telecommunications provider in Greece...
, Cosmoholding Cyprus LTD.
Cosmote Controversy
In the beginning Germanos stores offered in Greece mobile connections with Telestet (now WIND Greece) and CosmoteCosmote
COSMOTE is the largest mobile network operator in Greece, with 7.9 million subscribers. The company is headquartered in Athens and it is a fully owned subsidiary of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization , the incumbent telecommunications provider in Greece...
. Later, in 2005 Vodafone Greece
Vodafone Greece
Vodafone Greece is the Greek subsidiary of Vodafone. Its headquarters are in Halandri - one of the northern suburbs of Athens.Vodafone Greece was established in Greece in 1992 – under the trade name Panafon – with the participation of Vodafone Group Plc., France Telecom, Intracom and Data Bank, and...
gave permission to Germanos to offer its connections. In 2006 when a subsidiary of Cosmote bought the company, Wind and Vodafone pulled their support from the stores, stating that it would lead to unfair treatment towards them in order to enhance support to its in-house mobile operator.
International expansion
Germanos stores expanded throughout the last years in Greece, Cyprus and many Eastern European countries counting as of 2007 960 retail points.Germanos retail stores are found in:
- GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
- BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
- CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
- Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
- PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
- UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...