Ahold to Open Large Hypermarkets in Czech Republic This Fall; New Format Reinforces Market Leadership.

ZAANDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998--Royal Ahold (NYSE: AHO), a leading international food retailer, will open a number of large hypermarkets in the Czech Republic under the name of 'Hypernova'. The first two, in Prague and Brno, will open this Fall. They will significantly reinforce the prominent position Ahold's Euronova subsidiary already holds in food retail distribution in the Czech Republic and are expected to make an important contribution to earnings growth. Euronova's current position has been built over seven years through Mana supermarkets, Sesam discount stores and Prima minihypers, all formats well appreciated by customers. They are located in residential areas and city centers.

60,000 items

In contrast to the Mana supermarkets, carrying almost exclusively food, hypermarkets offer a large and varied range of non-food items including apparel, consumer electronics, CDs, Do-It-Yourself articles, garden tools, furniture, toys, appliances and computer equipment. The Ahold hypermarkets in the Czech Republic offer about 60,000 items in an average selling space of 100,000 sq. ft. They will be sited on the outskirts of town as part of newly-developed shopping malls.

First opening in August

The first Ahold Hypernova will open at the end of August in Prague and the second in October in Brno, capital of the Czech province of Moravia, where Euronova has its head office and where its first supermarkets were established seven years ago. The shopping malls are being developed by a new company in which Ahold has taken a 25% interest. The remaining 75% is held by the British real estate developer Stannifer. The malls are planned to include restaurants, movie theaters, a disco, a department store and specialty stores alongside the hypermarkets. Ample parking space is on site and the malls are well served by public transport.

In-house expertise

In developing Hypernova, Ahold is drawing on experience gained by operating hypermarkets through its joint ventures in Poland, Portugal and Brazil. The Hypernova operating managers are currently training in Portugal, Brazil and with Ahold's Spanish partner Caprabo. In addition, the Ahold Business Development Group, established in 1996, is providing hypermarket specialists recruited from outside the Group to act as consultants.

Comments by Fritz Ahlqvist

Fritz Ahlqvist, Ahold's Corporate Executive Board member responsible for European operations, emphasizes the strategic importance of the move: 'The hypermarket format is well geared to the needs of the Czech consumer. Timing could not be better. After a number of years of development, the market is ready for the convenience offered both by neighborhood supermarkets for daily food needs and very large stores with a broad range of vegetables, fruit, meat and non-food items. Now, along with our supermarkets and discount stores, the hypermarkets too will serve the needs of millions of Czech consumers better than anybody else.'

Background on Euronova

In the Czech Republic, Ahold operates 76 Mana supermarkets and 38 Sesam discount stores. 1997 Sales amounted to approximately USD 250 million. Ahold first entered the Czech market in 1991 through its 100% Euronova subsidiary. Euronova employs about 4,300 people.

Background on Ahold

Royal Ahold (Koninklijke Ahold nv) is a leading international food retailer with 1997 sales of $26 billion and 3,000 stores and 200,000 associates worldwide. Ahold is the leading food retailer in The Netherlands, one of the top supermarket companies in the US, and has major operations in several countries in Southern and Central Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. Ahold USA is a leader on the East Coast, operating the BI-LO, Giant Food Stores, Tops Markets, and Stop & Shop companies encompassing over 800 stores with 1997 sales of $14.3 billion.

In addition to its listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: AHO), Ahold's shares are trading on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange and on the Zurich Stock Exchange. Ahold ordinary shares may be accessed on the Reuter Equities 2000 Service under the symbol AHLN.AS and on Quotron under the symbol AHOLN.EU. Additional information is available on Ahold's home page: http://www.ahold.nl.

CONTACT: Royal Ahold, Media Relations

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Royal Ahold, Investor Relations 

Stuart Brown

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Jeff Zelkowitz

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