At the end of the 1940's the SPAR
concept began to extend beyond the Netherlands. First growing in
Europe and later expanding to Africa, Australia and Asia. The total
retail sales in 2010 of €29
billion came from the worldwide.
The opening of the first INTERSPAR
Hypermarkets in Russia, China and India were
particularly significant, as they show
the experience and flexibility of the SPAR
business model.
This model and several years of research and experience have
enabled SPAR to be the first international food retail chain to
enter the Russian, Chinese and
Indian markets and grow rapidly over past
years.
Entering new countries and being the most international
retail supply chain in the world demonstrates that we remain at the
leading edge of world food retailing.
SPAR is not a multinational company, but
an organisation of independent retailers and wholesalers working
together in partnership. True to the original philosophy of SPAR,
each country operates autonomously. Our unique partnership allows
us to operate locally and offer customers personal service
supported by all the benefits of a global business. This
demonstrates our continuing exchange of experience and
know-how.
SPAR is a worldwide
network of companies on four levels:
1-SPAR retail
stores in four formats, each designed to
meet a unique set of consumer needs. The majority of the stores are
owned by independent retailers.
2-SPAR distribution
centres (wholesalers) operating in a region or in
a country, supplying goods and services to the
stores in their licensed region
(company owned and franchised stores).
3-SPAR Central
Offices, a national point of co-ordination and
Service Centre for the wholesalers and stores (company owned and
franchised stores) in each country.
4-SPAR
International, the co-ordinating Head Office and
Service Centre for the national SPAR
organisations.
Ownership in SPAR is scattered over many stakeholders such as
independent retailers, large retail groups, multinational suppliers
and family-owned wholesale companies. All these stakeholders are
formally tied together by a system of licences and franchise
contracts. Entrepreneurship, loyalty and team spirit form the basis
of successful co-operation within the SPAR retail supply chain
worldwide.
If you, or your company, are
interested in joining SPAR, either as a retailer or a wholesaler,
please click here for more
information on joining SPAR.