Día is the trading name of Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, S.A., a Spanish international hard-discount supermarket chain which since 2000 is part of the Carrefour Group but since 13 May 2011 has begun a legal process of separation as a listed company on the Madrid stockmarket. The independent company will be headed by Venezuelan-born Ana María Llopis, making it the largest Spanish company to be headed by a woman.
Dia is a discount supermarket chain which follows a policy of reduction of prices by means of minimizing operational costs. The furniture and decoration of the store are minimal. Costs are also reduced by limiting the choice of products to a narrow selection of European brand name and white-label Dia brand goods. The chain also sells small appliances. Its policy of communication is based on mass media campaigns as well as periodic flyers featuring products which are on special sale.
The Dia chain was created in Spain in 1979, and has undertaken an ambitious plan of international expansion with standard Dia stores in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Greece and Turkey, in Portugal with "Minipreço" stores (although until 2001 they had "Dia" stores) and in France with "Ed" standard. In 2003 Dia opened stores in the People's Republic of China, where the number of openings in a year reached 300 stores. The provided philosophy by Dia is to adapt each store to the needs of the local population.
At the end of 2009 it has 6,475 stores, 46 distribution warehouses and approximate 52,000 employees worldwide, with a turnover of 10,515 million Euros.
In Spain, Dia operates 2,815 stores as of 2009 with 4,454 million euros in annual sales. Most of investment by Dia are in property but also it uses a formula of tax exemption in a proportion of 70/30.