ICA Gruppen AB (publ) is a Swedish retailer with a focus on food and health. The group also owns a bank, real estate division and a pharmacy chain.

Sweden

In Sweden, ICA Sverige AB operates about 1,400 retail stores as of 2020. The stores have different profiles, depending on location, range of products and size:

• ICA Nära (“ICA Nearby”) — Convenience-type stores for daily retail needs.
• ICA Supermarket — Mid-size supermarkets, located near where customers dwell or work or near major roads, carrying a wide range of products.
• ICA Kvantum — Superstores for large, planned purchases. Large spaces allocated for traffic and parking. Typically located outside of the cities.
• MAXI ICA Stormarknad — Hypermarkets with a full range of groceries as well as fashions, homewares, entertainment and consumer electronics. Smaller stores do not offer the fashion and electronics ranges, while the largest stores also have a DIY and gardening department.

Each store is owned and operated separately, but operations are coordinated within the group. All feature ICA brand products.

During 2009, ICA Sverige AB had sales of 59 billion SEK (excluding VAT). A major ICA location is in Västerås, where they have a logistics center.

Since December 2001, ICA has run a series of television commercials featuring the staff and customers of a fictional ICA store. As of Mid January 2015 512 commercials have aired. Since 2007 it is listed at the Guinness World Records as the longest running television advertising drama.

ICA meat repackaging controversy

In December 2007, a meat repackaging fraud scheme was revealed when a whistleblower spoke to Sveriges Television‘s flagship investigative programme Uppdrag granskning. Hans Hallén, a former quality control manager for the supermarket chain, revealed that the company was aware that meat was being illegally repackaged as early as 2003. Hallén, who monitored ICA stores in southern Sweden 2003–2005, said he informed the company’s managers of the practices. According to Hallén, many stores engaged in practices such as repackaging meat to change the expiry date.

ICA Offers

ICA Sweden’s industries have a large number of stores in which and each is offered weekly offers that provide opportunities for customers to buy cheaper goods online or in physical stores. Each can also offer some extra specific items in the store depending on their own policy.

Apotek Hjärtat

ICA Gruppen owns the pharmacy shop chain Apotek Hjärtat, which ICA purchased 2014. Apotek Hjärtat has 390 shops in Sweden.