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Tag: spar

  • Spar International Expands in Thailand

    Spar International Expands in Thailand

    SPAR International (“SPAR”) and Bangchak Retail Company Limited (“BCR”), today announced a significant new partnership agreement which will see up to 300 new SPAR stores opening in Thailand by the end of 2020, as part of a €102 million investment 

    SPAR International is the world’s largest food retail voluntary chain with over 12,100 stores worldwide and global retail sales of €33 billion in 2015. SPAR presence in Asia continues to grow with the brand attracting independent partners.

    BCR plan to open 7 new stores during 2016, comprising key flagship convenience and neighbourhood developments. From 2017 the company plans to open 50-80 stores each year for the next five years with up to 2,500 jobs created in the process. BCR’s retail strategy meets customer needs, with strong market growth in the neighbourhood grocery sector in Thailand; the company anticipates retail sales of €260 million by 2020.

    The partnership with BCR will see SPAR share industry expertise with its new partner including the sharing of best practice across its supply chain, retail operations, staff training, retail design and brand development strategy. SPAR Thailand is expanding forecourt retailing stores around food purchasing moments and to achieve this initiative SPAR International worked with BCR to generate detailed store designs and layouts. Ahead of the opening of the first store, SPAR International also supported the formation of the requisite supply chain capability, introduced the SPAR culture to the teams in the stores and central office, given advice about equipment suppliers and assisted with secondments to other SPAR Partners by key team members to expand their knowledge of the SPAR Brand.

    Speaking at the official announcement of the new partnership Tobias Wasmuht, Managing Director of SPAR International said “In the last decade, SPAR International has grown from strength to strength in key strategic markets of Asia. Today, we have a significant multi-format presence including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience and online in China, India, and Indonesia. The launch of SPAR in Thailand in partnership with BCR represents a significant and important step forward in SPAR’s ongoing expansion into Asian markets.  It brings together our internationally tried and tested retail expertise particularly in convenience and supermarket formats with the extensive knowledge of the Thai market. The partnership is a true example of the SPAR ethos in which through working together all shall benefit.”

    The new venture is being lead on the BCR side by Mr. Viboon Wongsakul, Managing Director of Bangchak Retail Company Limited. Speaking about the partnership Mr. Wongsakul said “BCR is excited to bring this new offering to customers in Thailand. SPAR and BCR share many key values such as a dedication to growth, a commitment to local suppliers, supporting communities and offering diverse retail solutions. We plan to bring local retailing to the next level and will dedicate the resources necessary to have a significant presence in the market in the shorted possible timeframe.” 

    As a shared core value, SPAR and BCR focus on supporting the communities in which they operate. During the development of the flagship stores in 2016, special focus will be given to the ability to source produce and product locally. SPAR International has a process in place for the development of own brand products by a Partner and has worked with BCR on the development and launch of a national range of own brand products.

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  • Spar India continues roll-out

    Spar India continues roll-out

    Spar India has opened its 18th store as the grocery franchise continues its rollout.

    The latest store is located in Hyderabad’s Paradise Mall, which is owned by Spar India’s licensee Max Hypermarkets. Located in Nacharam, it is the fourth store in the Hyderabad area. Spar India now boasts stores in nine cities in seven states.

    The newly built hypermarket has a retail selling area of 5400 sqm, offering a diverse range of fresh foods from the fish, bakery, delicatessen and Food-to-Go service departments and an extensive non-food offer, including a Home & Living department.

    Thanks to sustained publicity campaign prior to the opening, more than 1000 transactions were processed between 4.30pm and 10pm on the first day of trading.

    Spar India says it will continue to focus on its in-store range, expanding its own-brand products, which currently account for approximately 10 per cent of store turnover. Spar India MD Rajeev Krishnan says the group intends to expand its footprint by 30 per cent during the next 12-18 months.

    The Spar India licence was granted to Max by Spar International in 2014.

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  • Shoppers in Hyderabad welcome fourth SPAR Hypermarket

    Shoppers in Hyderabad welcome fourth SPAR Hypermarket

    Building on the SPAR Brand awareness amongst shoppers in Hyderabad, the newest hypermarket situated in Paradise Mall, Nacharam has been enthusiastically welcomed by customers. This is the 18th SPAR Hypermarket to open in the country, spread over seven states and nine cities, and the fourth in Hyderabad.

    The newly built hypermarket is a total of 6,000sqm and comprises one of the retail offerings in the Mall which is also managed by Max Hypermarkets, holder of the SPAR licence in India. In the retail selling area of 5,400sqm, customers can enjoy a diverse range of fresh foods from the fish, bakery, delicatessen and Food-to-Go service departments or browse the extensive non-food offer. The wide choice and high standard of products available throughout the hypermarket has seen customers react positively with particular attention on the Home & Living department.

    Many of the local customers are traditional families comprising a full target group of babies through to grandparents, requiring a broad range of products. In the build up to the opening on 18 October, SPAR India spread the word through extensive advertising. Customers took advantage of the opening specials with over 1,000 transactions taking place between 4:30 and 10:00 pm on the first day of trading. 

    Further advertising about the selection of fresh fish, meat and produce has begun together with greater awareness of the full hypermarket offer. Customers have commented favourably on the open layout, wide aisles and the merchandise available.

     SPAR India continues to focus on the range instore, building up their own brand products, which currently account for approximately 10% of retail turnover. SPAR India’s Managing Director, Rajeev Krishnan, stated at the opening ceremony that the group intends to expand its footprint by 30% in the next 12-18 months.

     SPAR India already offers an online shopping platform available for customers in Bengaluru. The platform offers same day delivery, payment by credit card, cash or food coupons and orders above Rs1,000 are free of charge. The online platform may be extended to other cities in the future. Furthermore, SPAR India continues to invest in the profitability and efficiency of its hypermarkets through the incorporation of new technologies such as the queue-buster solution to enhance the customer experience.

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  • The first ever SPAR China Congress

    The first ever SPAR China Congress

    The first ever SPAR China Congress kicked off in Weihai, in the Shangdong Peninsula yesterday. The three-day long Congress is being attended by SPAR International Board members, SPAR colleagues from across China and international retail experts as well as guest speakers and strategic partners.

    The Congress gives SPAR China Partners the opportunity to share best practice with each other and international SPAR Partners. Also in attendance are Graham O’Connor, Chairman of SPAR International & SPAR South Africa; Peter Blakemore, Chairman of A F Blakemore UK, Tobias Wasmuht, Managing Director of SPAR International, Paul Klotz, Chairman of SPAR Italy and Knut Johansson, Chairman of SPAR Norway. Over 200 delegates representing more than ten nationalities are gathered in the city.

    Delegates will visit a number of SPAR stores and the food production centre in Weihai, which offers a unique opportunity to see the rapid expansion of retail formats and instore product offerings which are inherent to the market.

    Since entering China in 2004, SPAR now has a presence in the provinces of Shandong, Guangdong, Shanxi & Inner Mongolia, Beijing (city), Sichuan, Henan and Hebei and a central office located in Shanghai. SPAR China has adhered to the brand philosophy of freshness, choice, value and service, focusing on the development of the SPAR Hypermarket, SPAR Supermarket, SPAR Neighbourhood and SPAR Express formats. 

    Great support has been received from many of the SPAR Partners around the world during the development of the strong SPAR operation in China which has continued to show excellent results year-on-year and is ranked fifth amongst global SPAR Partners in turnover terms reporting €1.9 billion in the 2015 results. Investment continues not only in retail with 360 stores trading today, but also supply chain expansion across all of the regions in which SPAR trades.

    “We seek to grow and expand in unity with all our SPAR Partners by sharing our resources and knowledge, ‘Better Together’, just like the theme of the SPAR China Congress. The success of the Congress will help drive the booming growth of our partners and the retail market in China,” said Yoep Man, SPAR China Managing Director.

    A SPAR International Board meeting is also taking place this week in Weihai, enabling the Board of Directors to meet with the Partners from SPAR China and to at see first-hand the development of the brand in this high potential market. 

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  • Spar International Expands to Mongolia

    Spar International Expands to Mongolia

    SPAR, the world’s largest food retail voluntary chain, has announced a new partnership with conglomerate Max Group LLC, to open its first stores in Mongolia. The partnership, which will see up to 60 SPAR-branded multi-format stores in Mongolia by 2020, was made at an official signing ceremony which took place during the visit of the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, to Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. 

    Max Group is one of Mongolia’s leading retailers operating the existing chain of Max Food Supermarkets.  The new partnership will see these stores transfer to the SPAR brand, and the opening of new SPAR supermarkets from 2017 onwards. The Netherlands-based SPAR International reported global retail sales in 2015 of €33 billion from over 12,100 stores across four continents. Mongolia brings to 43 the number of countries where SPAR has operations globally.

    Prime Minister Rutte was visiting Mongolia to attend the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit and to promote trade with the Netherlands in the region. Speaking at the signing of the contracts between SPAR and Max Group, the Prime Minister Rutte, said, “It is greatly encouraging to see a company like SPAR, which started as a partnership of Dutch retailers and wholesalers more than 80 years ago, helping bring retail best practice to the Mongolian marketplace.”

    SPAR International Managing Director, Tobias Wasmuht said “SPAR is delighted to be launching in Mongolia in partnership with the Max Group.  We see Mongolia as a dynamic and rapidly developing consumer market with a growing demand for modern world class food retail. We are highly confident that we can build on our strong presence in the region by leveraging our scale with the SPAR operations in neighbouring Irkutsk, Russia and Inner Mongolia, China. This collaboration combined with our modern retail formats, supply chain and international sourcing as well as investing in the training and development in people locally will act as a significant support structure for the growth and development of SPAR in Mongolia. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands who were instrumental in facilitating the partnership between SPAR and the Max Group.” 

     Max Group LLC is a family business established in the 1990s which has a wide variety of operations and business interests including supermarkets, fast food restaurants, department stores, real estate, precious metal mining and is the country’s largest dairy producer and milk bottler. Max Group LLC already employs over 2,500 people in Mongolia. Max Group President, Ganbaatar Dagvadorj said “Bringing the words leading retail chain, SPAR, to Mongolia is not just beneficial to Max Group it is a big opportunity for Mongolia as well and I am very excited about this partnership. Max is dedicated to bringing the SPAR’s commitment to excellence in fresh, passion for quality, outstanding service and exceptional value to consumers in Mongolia.”

  • Spar Asia flourishes

    Spar Asia flourishes

    Food retailer Spar Asia had “significant” developments during its latest financial year.

    In a partnership with Ramayana, the Amsterdam-based group opened 15 stores in Indonesia in nine months, had rapid growth in India after re-entering the market in 2014, and saw its China sales rise 6.8 per cent to €1.9 billion (US$2.14 billion).

    Internationally, its retail sales netted €33 billion for the year, a 3.5 per cent increase on 2014 – the group’s strongest sales growth in five years.

    During the year it entered four new countries, in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, taking its total to 12,100 stores in 42 countries serving 13 million customers a day. Spar International’s multi-format strategy includes hypermarkets, supermarkets, and neighbourhood and convenience stores.

    The fresh department is at the core of the Spar concept, with the stores also offering FMCG products and core non-food ranges. Value is underpinned through its low-priced, quality private-label products.

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  • Spar Indonesia plans 55 stores by 2018

    Spar Indonesia plans 55 stores by 2018

    Spar Indonesia launched in March with just three stores – but the local partner expects to end 2015 with 15 operating.

    Another 40 stores will join the network by 2018 according to the Dutch retailer’s master franchisee PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa.

    The partnership agreement between Ramayana and Spar was signed in September 2014 and the two companies wasted little time bringing the brand to the Southeast Asian nation.

    Besides rolling out the Spar supermarkets, RLS plans to open several new department stores under the Ramayana brand in Jakarta and East Java next year. It has budgeted US$29.41 million for store openings.

    RLS will also open Spars in Makassar town in South Sulawesi, Padang in West Sumatera, Balikpapan and Samarinda in East Kalimantan.

    Part of the rollout involves rebranding and reconfiguring existing Robinson department stores into Spars.

    Spar Asia has already established a network of more than 250 large format stores in China and is in the early stages of a new foray into India.

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