SPAR (retailer)

SPAR, originally DESPAR, is a Dutch multinational franchise that manages independently owned and operated food retail stores.[1] It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932,[2] by Adriaan van Well, and now consists of more than 13,112 stores in 48 countries. The company's name is an acronym of the slogan "Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig", which was used by van Well to describe the brand and translates as "Everyone works better together".[3]

SPAR
Private
IndustryRetail
Founded1932 (1932)
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Number of locations
13,112 (worldwide)
Area served
Worldwide
(48 countries as of 2017)
ProductsGrocers' shops, convenience shops, discount shops, hypermarkets and more
Revenue €34.5 billion (2017)
Number of employees
350,000
Websitewww.spar-international.com

Its headquarters are located in Amsterdam. The company operates a partnership programme and has a presence in most European countries, as well as many others throughout Asia, Africa and Oceania.

In fiscal year 2017, SPAR achieved €34.5 billion ($40.1 billion) in global sales, which represented a 5.3 percent increase over 2016.[4]

Etymology

The name was originally DE SPAR, an acronym of the Dutch phrase Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig[note 1] (English: "through united co-operation everyone regularly profits"). The acronym was chosen in order to resonate with the verb sparen, which (related to English spare) means "save [money]" in Dutch and some other languages, among them German[5] and Scandinavian languages (with variants such as spara or spare). The acronym ended up meaning "the fir", after which the logo was chosen. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was abbreviated by dropping the DE prefix.

There are some international naming variants:

  • In Hungary, 17 stores owned by SPAR located at Lukoil filling stations operate under the name DESPAR.[6]
  • In Italy, the name is still DESPAR, though in keeping with the international branding, the SPAR section of the logo is highlighted, and the larger shops are still called EuroSPAR and InterSPAR.
  • In Austria, DESPAR is SPAR's Italian food shop brand.[7]

History
SPAR shop in Moerkapelle, Netherlands.

Spar was founded in 1932 in the South Holland town of Zegwaart (now Zoetermeer). In 1953 an International Spar office opened in Amsterdam to control and further develop the organisation throughout Europe and other continents. Many Spar shops are in Europe, but they can also be found in a number of countries outside of Europe, such as Australia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, China, India, Japan (closed 2016), Vanuatu and Angola as well as Greenland. Spar opened in the Republic of Vanuatu on 1 December 2009, ending Au Bon Marché's grocery monopoly.[8]

A Spar shop may be owned independently, by a franchisee, 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 by Raymond Loewy and has since remained unchanged.[9]

In the United Kingdom Spar, founded in 1959, may be a supermarket or a convenience shop. In 1997, Spar was introduced to most United Kingdom military bases by the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (Naafi), where it sells a variety of civilian and military products.[10] In Ireland the Spar brand is known for neighbourhood shops and also the subformat Eurospar acting as mini-supermarkets.

Since 1996, the company has been a major sponsor of the European Athletic Association and its events.[11]

The Dutch Spar is a member of Superunie, an inventory purchasing organization for a number of otherwise unaffiliated supermarket brands.

In July 2014 Spar Group South Africa opened its first supermarket in Angola but no expansion of the brand is planned for this market. In August 2014 the group acquired 80% of the BWG Group, which had outlets in Ireland and southern Britain.[12]

In 2015 Ahold acquired all 35 hypermarkets and 14 supermarkets from Spar, Czechia for more than 5.2 billion Czech koruna.[13] and converted them into Albert super- and hypermarkets, however it had to divest itself of some shops in order not to have a monopoly.

The first SPAR shop in Oman was inaugurated in January 2015 in Muscat. Spar Oman has plans to open more shops over time as part of its expansion plans in Oman. Spar opened its first store in Qatar in 2017, with the second store opening in 2018. A further two stores are planned for 2018.[14]

In 2017 Ceylon Biscuits Limited in Sri Lanka acquired a license to operate Spar brand in Sri Lanka as Spar Lanka. This is a joint venture of Ceylon Biscuits Limited and SPAR Group Ltd South Africa.[15] They opened the first store in Thalawathugoda, Colombo. The plan is to open 50 outlets in the country by 2023.[16]

Shop types
SPAR shop in Laiwu, China.

In most, but not all countries, SPAR operates shops of different types and sub-brands: SPAR Express, SPAR Neighbourhood, EuroSPAR and InterSPAR.[17]

InterSPAR shop in Hungary.
EuroSPAR/SuperSPAR

The EuroSPAR name is used in Europe and SuperSPAR in South Africa. These are mid-sized supermarkets. They are designed to fit in a niche between convenience shops and traditional supermarkets.[18]

InterSPAR

These are hypermarkets and compete directly against major international chains such as Real, Carrefour, and Tesco.[19][20]

KwikSPAR

KwikSPAR (only found in South Africa) are a smaller quick stop shop for convenience. They are larger than the conventional SPAR Express but smaller than the normal SPAR. These store tend to have extended trading hours, some even being 24hr convenience stores.

SPAR Express
A filling station with a SPAR Express shop in Wattens, Austria.

This is the smallest type of shop. They are designed for small sites and filling station forecourts, airports and train stations. [21]

SPAR Drive-Thru

There was a drive-through SPAR on the Cliftonville Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. This has now been converted to a Centra shop, and retained the drive-through for a while afterhand, but now no longer has one.[22]

SPAR Gourmet

Some small SPAR shops in Austria are called SPAR Gourmet, since the Austrian Spar Group took over the supermarket chains Julius Meinl in 2000. The standard range is extended to local and global delicacies.[23]

International statistics (2017)
Country Year
Founded		 Sales (mil.)[24] No. of shops[24] Sales area (m²)[24] Sales per area Average shop size (m²)[24] Nationwide owner Notes
Albania 2016 €37.6 30 20,536 €1,831/m² 685 Balfin Group[25]
Angola 2014 1 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Armenia 2019 2
Australia 1994 €200.7 130 46,105 €4,353/m² 355 SPAR Australia
Austria 1954 €6,700.0 1,556 1,178,429 €5,686/m² 757 SPAR Austria Group[26]
Azerbaijan 2014 €19.4 7 5,466 €3,546/m² 781 AZretail MMC
Belarus 2017 8 Almi Group's Unifood CJSC
Belgium 1947 €998.2 320 155,408 €6,423/m² 486 Colruyt and Lambrechts Two separate chains
Botswana 2004 €161.1 30 3,092 €5,209/m² 1,031 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Cameroon 2015 €8.4 7 24 €3,494/m² 2,400 SPAR Cameroon
China 2004 €1,836.8 408 1,090,346 €1,685/m² 2,672 SPAR China
Croatia 2004 €596.7 104 142,385 €4,191/m² 1,382 SPAR Austria Group[26]
Cyprus 2017 Ermes Department Stores PLC
Denmark 1954 €487.5 147 95,737 €5,092/m² 651 SPAR Denmark
France 1955 €961.1 860 251,204 €3,858/m² 292 Casino
Georgia 2014 €27.0 107 6,519 €4,135/m² 155 Foodmart
Germany 1953 €318.2 466 37,310 €8,529/m² 80 Edeka
Greece (2014) 1969 €525.6 184 141,107 €3,725/m² 767 Veropoulos Numbers that of 2014
Hungary 1992 €1,817.3 519 416,079 €4,368/m² 802 SPAR Austria Group[26]
India 2014 €158.0 26 82,453 €1,916/m² 4,581 Max Hypermarkets
Indonesia 2015 €45.6 23 42,276 €1,078/m² 1,838 Ramayana Lestari Sentosa
Ireland 1963 €1,237.8 453 116,452 €10,629/m² 257 BWG Foods
Italy 1959 €3,375.7 1,218 738,890 €4,569/m² 607 SPAR Austria Group[26]
Japan (1994) 1977 2,000 All Tulip Chain/All Japan SPAR/Hot SPAR Convinience Networks/Hokkaido SPAR Disbanded in 2016.
Kosovo 2019 3 SPAR Kosova J.S.C.
Malawi 2014 €6.5 3 2850 €2,290/m² 950 SPAR Malawi
Malta 2017 Azzopardi Group
Mauritius 2000 €24.4 6 5,700 €4,273/m² 950 Casino
Mozambique 2012 €40.1 9 10,241 €3,915/m² 1,138 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Namibia 2004 €160.9 29 31,967 €5,034/m² 1,102 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Netherlands 1932 €471.9 261 94,547 €4,991/m² 362 SPAR Holding B.V.
Nigeria 2009 €115.5 12 39,385 €2,933/m² 3,282 SPAR Nigeria
Norway 1984 €1,534.3 291 180,325 €8,508/m² 620 NorgesGruppen
Northern Ireland 1960 Henderson Group
Oman 2014 €27.3 24 8,286 €3,300/m² 345 Khimji Ramdas
Pakistan 2017 2 Galaxy Group[27]
Poland 1995 €244.5 250 67,648 €3,615/m² 271 SPAR Polska
Portugal 2006 €72.3 131 32,395 €2,233/m² 247 Novo Retalho
Qatar 2015 3 8,530 Al Wataniya International Holding
Russia 2000 €1,713.3 466 376,049 €4,556/m² 807 SPAR Russia
Saudi Arabia 2016 4 SPAR Saudi Arabia
Seychelles 2015 €5.3 1 895 €5,916/m² 895 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Slovenia 1992 €783.9 134 161,316 €4,859/m² 1,403 SPAR Austria Group[26]
South Africa 1963 €4,836.2 839 976,197 €4,954/m² 1,164 The SPAR Group Ltd.
Spain 1959 €1,389.5 1,088 438,181 €3,171/m² 403 SPAR Española
Sri Lanka 2017 3 Ceylon Biscuits Limited & SPAR SA
Switzerland 1989 €515.0 183 70,469 €7,309/m² 385 SPAR Handels AG
Thailand 2016 €5.2 33 4,810 €1,089/m² 146 Bangchak Corporation[28]
Ukraine 2001 €9.6 23 4,778 €1,835/m² 281 Volwest LLC
United Arab Emirates 2011 €130.8 25 23,714 €5,515/m² 949 SPAR United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom 1959 €3,236.9 2,620 384,094 €8,427/m² 147 SPAR UK see also Northern Ireland
Zambia 2003 €53.2 14 27,614 €1,972/m² 1,972 SPAR Zambia
Zimbabwe 1969 €115.7 35 26,011 €4,447/m² 743 SPAR Zimbabwe
Bermuda 1987 €865.5 5 5,098 €5,331/m 5 SPAR Bermuda
New Caledonia 2001 €920.16 16 16,067 €16,621/m 16 SPAR New Caledonia
Suriname 1994 €721.20 20 20,099 €20,986/m 20 SPAR Suriname
Bahamas 1999 5 SPAR Bahamas
Central African Republic 1991 SPAR Central African Republic
Mali 2014 SPAR Mali
Egypt 2017 SPAR Egypt
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See also

Notes
  1. Dutch pronunciation: [doːr eːnˈdrɑxtɪx ˈsaːmə(n)ʋɛrkə(n) proːfiˈteːrə(n) ˈɑlə(n) reːɣəlˈmaːtəx]

References
  1. "About us". SPAR International. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. "Spar boss brings in Subway and Greggs to snatch grocery spend from retail giants". Telegraph. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  3. "History". SPAR International. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. "2017 Review". SPAR International. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  5. "Englisch-Deutsch Wörterbuch". LEO. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  6. "DESPAR" (in Hungarian). Lukoil Magyarország. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  7. "DESPAR" (in German). SPAR Österreich. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  8. "SPAR Australia opens first Vanuatu shop: AUS". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  9. "SPAR". Raymond Loewy Foundation. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  10. "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.
  11. "Athletics, Sprints & Sports Days". SPAR. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  12. Mark Allix (12 August 2014). "Spar buys stake in Irish supermarkets". BusinessLIVE. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  13. "SPAR odchází z českého trhu, z padesáti prodejen budou Alberty". iDNES.cz. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  14. Aguilar, Joey (2 April 2018). "Spar's flagship store opens at Tawar Mall". Gulf Times.
  15. "SPAR Sri Lanka". Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  16. "* Spar continues expansion with entry into Sri Lanka". Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  17. Eric Pfanner (12 November 2004). "An international grocery giant is emerging from the shadows". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  18. "Shop formats". Spar International. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  19. Ians (28 January 2011). "SPAR to open 24 more hypermarkets in next two years". Sify. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  20. Sedlák, Lubomír (3 February 2011). "CZECH: Spar looks to expand supermarket chain". just-food. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  21. "Shop formats". Spar South Africa. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  22. "Inquiry into Town Centre Regeneration". Northern Ireland Assembly Archive Site. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  23. "Chronologie: Von Konsum bis Rewe". Derstandard.at. 24 February 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  24. "Spar Annual Report 2017" (PDF). SPAR International. Spar International. 7 May 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  25. globalvanet.com. "Balfin Group brings Spar International to Albania". Europaproperty.com - Balfin Group brings Spar International to Albania. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  26. "ASPIAG Countries". ASPIAG Austria SPAR International. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  27. "SPAR continues global expansion with entry into Pakistan". SPAR International. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  28. "Bangchak, Spar team up for stores". Bangkok Post. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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