Denmark is preparing a nationwide network of emergency supermarkets by upgrading 51 Salling Group stores so they can keep operating during power cuts and digital payment outages.
How Salling’s emergency supermarkets will work
Over the next three years, Salling Group will convert selected Bilka, Føtex and Netto outlets into emergency supermarkets designed to stay open even if Denmark experiences a major crisis. The retailer plans to equip the stores with backup generators, strengthened offline payment solutions and larger reserves of essential goods such as bottled water, canned food and basic hygiene items.
In total, 51 shops across 50 Danish cities will receive emergency status, and all are expected to be ready by the end of 2028. The first stores are scheduled to open in early 2026. According to the company, the goal is that most residents will have a crisis-proof supermarket within reasonable driving distance, creating an extra safety net alongside household emergency stockpiles.
Salling Group’s chief executive Anders Hagh describes the initiative as an additional layer of security rather than a replacement for individual preparedness. The emergency supermarkets are meant to ensure that people who are missing specific items from their home stocks can still access key goods during a disruption.
A private retailer stepping into crisis preparedness
The plan gives Salling Group a visible role in Denmark’s wider crisis preparedness strategy. In recent years, authorities have urged households to be able to cope for at least three days without power, water or digital infrastructure, and to keep their own reserves of food, drinking water and medicines. The new emergency supermarkets are presented as a complement to those home supplies, not as a reason to stock less.
The stores will prioritise goods that can be used in a crisis, including long-life food, drinking water, basic hygiene products and other items recommended by Danish emergency authorities. At the same time, Salling Group emphasises that customers should still be able to shop “almost as usual” in daily life, with product ranges that resemble a normal large supermarket.
Company representatives stress that the project is not designed as a short-term commercial opportunity. Building up emergency capacity will require investment in generators, extra storage and staff training, and the group expects higher costs rather than immediate profit from the scheme.
Backup power and offline payments in a highly digital country
A key focus of the emergency supermarkets is resilience when the digital systems that underpin everyday life fail. Denmark is one of the most cashless countries in Europe, and past IT breakdowns have shown how vulnerable daily life can become when payment apps or card systems go offline.
To address this, Salling Group’s emergency shops will install enhanced backup power and expand their ability to handle offline card payments. The intention is that customers can still pay with payment cards even if there is no internet connection for hours or days. This approach mirrors recent recommendations from Danmarks Nationalbank and Nordic cooperation initiatives on maintaining payments capacity during cyberattacks or infrastructure failures.
By combining local backup power, manual routines and offline payment options, the retailer aims to keep both tills and refrigerators running long enough for residents to buy what they need while authorities stabilise the situation.
From Danish home stockpiles to a European 72-hour norm
Denmark’s push for household preparedness has developed in parallel with a broader European debate on crisis resilience. Authorities in Copenhagen recommend that households are able to manage for at least three days without external help, including enough water, food and basic medicines for every person in the home. Similar guidance is spreading across the European Union, where institutions now promote a 72-hour standard for essential supplies.
In this context, Salling Group’s emergency supermarkets illustrate how private retailers can support public preparedness strategies. By strengthening their own backup systems and securing minimum stocks of key goods, large supermarket chains can help ensure that people can still access essential items even if local infrastructure is disrupted.
The initiative also reflects a wider Nordic trend towards planning for “low-probability, high-impact” crises, from cyberattacks to extreme weather and disruptions in critical infrastructure. For international observers, the Danish example offers a case study of how governments and retailers can share responsibility for crisis preparedness, with households, private companies and public authorities each expected to play their part.
What it means for people living in Denmark
For residents, the most visible change will be that selected Bilka, Føtex and a few Netto stores are clearly marked as emergency supermarkets. In everyday life, they will operate as normal supermarkets. In a crisis, they are intended to act as a backup lifeline, with generators, trained staff and procedures that allow them to function when other shops may have to close.
The Danish government has welcomed the project as a contribution to a more resilient society, while also underlining that emergency preparedness has been neglected for years and cannot be rebuilt overnight. The coming years will show how the model works in practice, whether other retailers adopt similar schemes and how far this kind of cooperation between public authorities and private supermarket chains can be extended to strengthen crisis resilience across Denmark and the wider Nordic region.
