Deli de Luca is a Norwegian convenience store and delicatessen chain founded in 2003 by Adriano Capoferro and four other founding partners (Thor Johansen, Geir Syversen, Terje Bergh and Vesna Milkovic).[1] There are 22 stores in Oslo,[2] four in Bergen,[3] one in Stavanger, two in Trondheim, two in Kristiansand, one in Skien and two in Mo i Rana.[4] [5] Most of the stores are open 24/7. In 2006 62% of the company was bought by NorgesGruppen.[6]
The five founding partners had been colleagues at the convenience store chain 7-Eleven, whose Norwegian franchise is operated by local Norwegian retail giant Reitan-Gruppen. The Deli de Luca founders had been frustrated by what they perceived as a rigid and uncreative environment within Reitan's 7-Eleven business. With the financial support of several silent partners, the five broke out on their own to create a cross between a convenience store and a delicatessen.[7]
According to Capoferro, the sale of Deli de Luca was driven by its financial backers' wish to cash out at a pre-set exit date. The purchase of Deli de Luca by NorgesGruppen included a total cashout by the financial partners and a partial cashout by the five operating partners. NorgesGruppen has a reputation for acquiring smaller Norwegian food retailing chains and leaving them a wide latitude in their branding and front office operations, but leveraging its purchasing power and back office platform to boost operating margins.