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Spar (retailer)

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"SPAR" redirects here. For other uses, seeSpar (disambiguation).

SPAR International B.V.
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1932;92 years ago(1932)
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Number of locations
13,996 stores (worldwide, 2022)[1]
Area served
Worldwide
(48 countries as of 2022)[1]
ProductsGrocers' shops,convenience shops,discount shops,hypermarkets
RevenueIncrease€43.5 billion (2022)[1]
Number of employees
460,000 (2022)[1]
SubsidiariesBWG Foods
Websitespar-international

SPAR,originally "DESPAR",styled as"DE SPAR"[2](Dutch pronunciation:[dəˈspɑr]), is a Dutch multinationalfranchisethat provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores.[3]It was founded in theNetherlandsin 1932,[4]byAdriaan van Well,and as of 2022consists of 13,996[1]stores in 48 countries.[1]

Logo without the red box, used inNorthern Irelandand other markets

Its headquarters are inAmsterdam.The company operates a partnership programme and has a presence in most European countries, as well as throughoutAsia,AfricaandOceania.

In fiscal year 2022, SPAR earned €43.5 billion in global sales,[1]which represented a 5.6 percent increase over the previous year.[1]

Etymology

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The name was originally DESPAR, anacronymof theDutchphraseDoor Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig[note 1](English:"Through united co-operation everyone profits equally"), which was used by Van Well to describe the brand.[5]The acronym was chosen to resonate with the verbsparen,which (related to Englishspare) means "save [money]" in Dutch and some other languages, among them German[6]andScandinavian languages(with variants such assparaorspare).Sparis Dutch for "sprucetree ", after which the logo was chosen. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was abbreviated by dropping theDEprefix.[5][7]

There are some international naming variants:

  • InHungary,17 stores owned by SPAR located atOrlen(formerLukoil)filling stationsoperate under the nameDESPAR.[8]However, there are also many SPAR and INTERSPAR locations.
  • InItaly,the name is stillDESPAR,though in keeping with the international branding, theSPARsection of the logo is highlighted, and the larger shops are still called EuroSPAR and InterSPAR.[9]
  • InAustria,DESPARis SPAR'sItalian foodproduct range.[10]There are alsoINTERSPARlocations within Austria.[11]
  • InCroatia,SPARandINTERSPARlocations run concurrently.[12]
  • InArabia,the Latin lettersSPARare displayed next to the Arabicسبار(sbār).[13][14][15]
  • InIran,it is calledاسپار(Aspar).[16][17]
  • InChina,it is known asTư ba siêu thị(Sībā chāoshì,"Siba supermarket" ).[18]
  • InIreland,Northern Ireland,RussiaandSwitzerlandboth the SPAR and EUROSPAR names are used, with EUROSPAR being used mostly for larger supermarket sized stores and SPAR for smaller convenience stores.
  • InSloveniaboth SPAR and INTERSPAR are used, with INTERSPAR being used for a larger supermarket sized stores and SPAR for smaller convenience stores[19]

History

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20th century

[edit]
SPAR shop inMoerkapelle,Netherlands
Woman in SPAR shop inVienna,Austria, 2016

Spar was founded in 1932 inZegwaart,Netherlands. In 1953, an International Spar office opened inAmsterdamto manage international expansion. Spar shops can be found in Europe, Australia,Oman,Saudi Arabia,Qatar,United Arab Emirates,Israel,Nigeria,South Africa,Botswana,Namibia,Zimbabwe,Zambia,Mozambique,Seychelles,Sri Lanka,Cameroon,China,andIndia.[20]Spar opened inVanuatuon 1 December 2009, ending Au Bon Marché's grocery monopoly.[21]

A Spar shop may be owned independently, by afranchise,or be part of a chain, depending on the model applied in any given country. The owners of the parent company vary from country to country and may include the shop owners themselves. The name and the current logo was most recently revised in 1968 byRaymond Loewyand has since remained unchanged.[22]

In theUnited Kingdom,Spar was founded in 1959 and may be a supermarket or aconvenience shop.In 1997, Spar was introduced to most United Kingdom military bases by theNavy, Army and Air Force Institutes(Naafi), where it sells a variety of civilian and military products.[23]InIrelandandNorthern Ireland,the Spar brand is known for neighbourhood shops and also the subformat Eurospar acting as mini-supermarkets.[citation needed]

Since 1996, the company has been a major sponsor of theEuropean Athletic Associationand its events.[24]

Spar stores in theNetherlandsare members ofSuperunie,an inventory purchasing organisation for a number of otherwise unaffiliated supermarket brands.[citation needed]

In 1988, SPAR South Africa became a wholly owned subsidiary ofTiger Brands,a holding company with a large diversified portfolio. It was unbundled and listed as a separate company in 2004.[25]

21st century

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In July 2014, SPAR South Africa opened its first supermarket inAngolabut no expansion of the brand is planned for this market. Since 2021, the group has 100% ofBWG Foods,which had outlets in Ireland and southern Britain.[26]

In 2015,Aholdacquired all 35 hypermarkets and 14 supermarkets from SparCzechiafor more than 5.2 billionCzech koruna.[27]and converted them intoAlbertsuper- and hypermarkets. However, it had to divest itself of some shops in order not to have amonopoly.[citation needed]

The first SPAR shop inOmanwas inaugurated in January 2015, inMuscat.[citation needed]Spar Oman had plans to open more shops over time as part of its expansion plans in Oman.[citation needed]Spar opened its first store inQatarin 2017, with the second store opening in 2018. A further two stores were planned to open in 2018, but it got cancelled.[28]

SPAR opened in Saudi Arabia in 2017, sublicensed to Al-Sadhan Group[29]opening its first stores inRiyadh.

In 2017,Ceylon Biscuits LimitedinSri Lankaacquired a license to operate the Spar brand in Sri Lanka as Spar Lanka. This is a joint venture ofCeylon Biscuits Limitedand SPAR South Africa.[30]They opened the first store inThalawathugoda,Colombo.The plan is to open 50 outlets in the country by 2023.[31]

In 2020, there were more than 13,500 SPAR stores in 48 countries.[32]

In 2022, SPAR International entered theKazakhstanretail market.[33]

In 2022, Israeli supermarket chainShufersalannounced plans to open SPAR stores in Israel; with 10 stores to be opened in the first three years of operation.[34]Also in 2022, SPAR entered Latvia where by 2023 it opened 23 stores.[35][36]A first Israeli Spar store was opened in 2024.

Shop types

[edit]
SPAR shop inLaiwu,China

In most, but not all countries, SPAR operates shops of different types and sub-brands: SPAR Express, SPAR Neighbourhood, EuroSPAR and InterSPAR.[37]

InterSPAR shop in Hungary

EuroSPAR/SuperSPAR

[edit]

The EuroSPAR name is used in Europe and SuperSPAR in South Africa. These are mid-sized supermarkets, designed to fit in a niche between convenience shops and traditional supermarkets.[38]

InterSPAR

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These arehypermarketsand compete directly against major international chains such asReal,Carrefour,andTesco.[39][40]

KwikSPAR

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KwikSPAR, only found in South Africa, is a smaller quick stop shop for convenience, larger than the conventional SPAR Express and smaller than the normal SPAR. These stores tend to have extended trading hours, some operating as 24-hour convenience stores.

HOT SPAR

[edit]

HOT SPAR was a brand of convenience stores licensed to franchisees in Japan.[41]

SPAR Express

[edit]
A filling station with a SPAR Express shop inWattens,Austria

This is the smallest type of shop. They are designed for small sites andfilling stationforecourts, airports and train stations.[42]

SPAR Drive-Thru

[edit]

There was adrive-throughSPAR on the Cliftonville Road inBelfast,Northern Ireland.This has now been converted to aCentrashop, and retained the drive-through for a while afterwards, but now no longer has one.[43]

SPAR Gourmet

[edit]

The Austrian Spar Group has around 50 supermarkets branded SPAR Gourmet, mainly in and around Vienna. They are smaller supermarkets that specialize in foods, with a reduced range of other household goods. They originate from the acquisition of retail units from theJulius Meinlcoffee and tea chain in 2000.[44][45][46]

International statistics (2021)

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Former Spar store photographed on the ground floor ofHelsinki Central Stationin 2005. Later changed toAlepa
  • 48 countries[1]
  • 255 distribution centres[1]
  • 13,623 stores[1]
  • €41.2 billion total sales[1]
  • 410,000 SPAR colleagues[1]
  • 7.5 millionm2retail sales area[1]
  • 14.5 million customers per day[1]

Controversies

[edit]

Following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukrainewhich began on February 24, many international, particularly Western, companies pulled out of Russia. Unlike most of its Western competitors, Spar has been slow to announce any disinvestments or scaling back of its operations in Russia, drawing criticism. Ukrainian government officials called for a global boycott of the company.[47][48]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Dutch pronunciation:[doːreːnˈdrɑxtəxˈsaːmə(ɱ)ʋɛrkə(m)proːfiˈteːrə(n)ˈɑlə(n)reːɣəlˈmaːtəx]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdefghijklmno"SPAR Annual Review 2022".SPAR International.Retrieved26 April2024.
  2. ^The first DESPAR store, opened in the Netherlands, 1932.Spar International. Archived 2017-06-06.
  3. ^"About us".SPAR International.Retrieved13 September2018.
  4. ^"Spar Boss brings in Subway and Greggs to snatch grocery spend from retail giants".The Daily Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 12 January 2022.Retrieved14 January2019.
  5. ^ab"The History of SPAR".SPAR International.Retrieved21 August2022.
  6. ^"Englisch-Deutsch Wörterbuch".LEO.Retrieved1 March2015.
  7. ^"SPAR – Some Untold stories - Reena D Souza".
  8. ^"DESPAR"(in Hungarian). Lukoil Magyarország.Retrieved8 March2019.
  9. ^"SPAR Italy".SPAR International.Retrieved31 October2022.
  10. ^"DESPAR"(in German). SPAR Österreich.Retrieved7 March2015.
  11. ^"Interspar.at".Retrieved30 January2021.
  12. ^"SPAR i INTERSPAR Hrvatska: mi smo tu za Vas".SPAR.hr.Retrieved30 January2021.
  13. ^"Further expansion for SPAR in Qatar".SPAR International.
  14. ^عروض سبار قطر من 12 حتى 16/6/2021.العروض اون لاين.13 June 2021.
  15. ^نت, تسوق (28 April 2021).عروض اليوم بفروع سبار السعودية من 28 إبريل حتى 4 مايو 2021 رمضان كريم.العروض اون لاين.
  16. ^"اسپار – برای رفع نیازهای شما"(in Persian).
  17. ^رازهای موفقیت و محبوبیت «اسپار».tejaratetalaeenews.ir(in Persian).
  18. ^Tư ba siêu thị ( Spar ) là Hà Lan một nhà vượt quốc bán lẻ xí nghiệp, ở toàn thế giới 42 quốc gia mở có ước 12.500 cái cửa hàng. Tư ba siêu thị sáng tạo với 1932 năm. Hiện tại tư ba siêu thị đã ở đại bộ phận Châu Âu quốc gia, bộ phận Châu Phi, Châu Á, châu Đại Dương.ww.cn.freejournal.org(in Chinese).
  19. ^"SPAR SLOVENIJA".
  20. ^"SPAR Country Figures".SPAR International.Retrieved29 April2022.
  21. ^"SPAR Australia opens first Vanuatu shop: AUS".Wayback Machine. Archived fromthe originalon 2 April 2012.Retrieved10 January2016.
  22. ^"SPAR".Raymond Loewy Foundation.Retrieved1 October2013.
  23. ^"Naafi allies with Spar".The Grocer.22 March 1997.Naafi has chosen Spar as its retail partner to convert its 200 UK shops into a "world class operation for the next millennium". The contract, worth nearly £500 million over the next five years, was awarded after extensive trials with Costcutter and Londis.[dead link]
  24. ^"Athletics, Sprints and Sports Days".SPAR.Wayback Machine. Archived fromthe originalon 9 October 2009.Retrieved10 January2016.
  25. ^Trade Intelligence – SPAR,accessed 2 October 2010
  26. ^Mark Allix (12 August 2014)."Spar buys stake in Irish supermarkets".BusinessLIVE. Archived fromthe originalon 26 October 2014.Retrieved25 February2015.
  27. ^"SPAR odchází z českého trhu, z padesáti prodejen budou Alberty".iDNES.cz.11 March 2014.Retrieved30 July2016.
  28. ^Aguilar, Joey (2 April 2018)."Spar's flagship store opens at Tawar Mall".Gulf Times.
  29. ^"Saudi Spar to open 40 branches by 2020".2 February 2018.
  30. ^"SPAR Sri Lanka".Retrieved31 May2018.
  31. ^"* Spar continues expansion with entry into Sri Lanka".Retrieved31 May2018.
  32. ^"SPAR CI Annual Review English".SPAR CI Annual Review English.Retrieved29 April2022.
  33. ^"SPAR continues expansion with entry into Kazakhstan"(Press release).
  34. ^"Shufersal in talks to open SPAR stores in Israel".Globes.28 December 2022.Retrieved29 December2022.
  35. ^"The international retail network" Spar "plans to start work in Latvia in the summer".lsm.lv(in Latvian).Retrieved9 June2022.
  36. ^"'Elvi' franchise partner 'Banderi S.IDE' will join the 'Spar' network with dozens of stores ".delfi.lv(in Latvian).Retrieved6 February2023.
  37. ^Eric Pfanner (12 November 2004)."An international grocery giant is emerging from the shadows".The New York Times.Retrieved25 February2015.
  38. ^"Shop formats".Spar International.Retrieved26 February2017.
  39. ^Ians (28 January 2011)."SPAR to open 24 more hypermarkets in next two years".Sify.Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2012.Retrieved1 October2013.
  40. ^Sedlák, Lubomír (3 February 2011)."CZECH: Spar looks to expand supermarket chain".just-food.Archived fromthe originalon 11 July 2020.Retrieved1 October2013.
  41. ^Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting(13 December 2007).ホットスパーが “COCO!” へ[ "HOT SPAR" rebranded to "COCO!" ] (in Japanese).Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting.Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2013.Retrieved20 May2023.
    • rough translation of relevant parts: "From next February, the convenience store chain 'HOT SPAR' will be renamed to 'COCO!'".; "[...] because the licensing contract with the Dutch firm SPAR International will expire on November next year"
  42. ^"Shop formats".Spar South Africa.Retrieved26 February2017.
  43. ^"Inquiry into Town Centre Regeneration".Northern Ireland Assembly Archive Site.20 October 2009.Retrieved1 October2013.
  44. ^"Chronologie: Von Konsum bis Rewe".Derstandard.at. 24 February 2008.Retrieved1 October2013.
  45. ^"SPAR Gourmet".SPAR(in German). SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG.Retrieved24 August2020.
  46. ^"Julius Meinl veräußert Lebensmittelhandel an die Spar – Institution".APA-OTS Originaltext-Service(in German).Retrieved24 August2020.
  47. ^"Kuleba calls to boycott major companies refusing to leave Russian market".Ukrinform.Retrieved21 March2022.
  48. ^"European chains Metro, SPAR still active in Ukraine, Russia".Reuters.2 March 2022.Retrieved21 March2022.
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