Makro is an international brand of Warehouse clubs, also called cash and carries. Originally a Dutch-based chain, the first one opened in Amsterdam in 1968. In the following years more stores opened in the Netherlands and in several other European countries and, in 1971, South Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s Makro extended its business to the Americas and Asia. Makro had also expanded to the United States in the mid-1980s. In ****, Kmart bought the US locations, and converted most of them to Pace Warehouse in 1990. In 1998, Makro owner SHV Holdings sold the Makro stores in Europe to Metro AG.