SPAR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the convenience store. For other uses, see Spar (disambiguation).
SPAR is an international retail franchise comprising over 17,500 convenience stores in 34 operating regions. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, operating on a principal similar to co-operative stores elsewhere, with retailers grouping together to get bulk discounts from suppliers/wholesalers. In 1953 an International SPAR office was opened in Amsterdam to control and further develop the organisation throughout Europe and other continents.
Most SPAR stores are in Europe, but they can also be found in a few countries outside of Europe, such as South Africa, Botswana, Australia, Mauritius, Argentina, China and Japan. In Japan the store operates under the name HOT SPAR, although the store logo remains unchanged. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Spar has become known primarily as a convenience store format.
The name, which was originally DE SPAR, is an acronym formed from the Dutch phrase Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig (literally: "through united co-operation everyone regularly profits"). Probably not just by chance, spar means "save (money)" in Afrikaans, Danish, German, Norwegian, Slovenian, and Swedish. De spar in Dutch means "the fir tree", hence SPAR's logo. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was later abbreviated by dropping "DE", but the underlying meaning remains (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 stores are still called Eurospar and Interspar).
A SPAR store 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 store owners themselves. The only common link between the stores in different countries is the branding - the name and the current logo, which was designed in 1968 and has remained unchanged ever since. There are a number of sub-brands under the Spar brand, with larger supermarkets being branded "Eurospar", smaller stores "Spar Express", and hypermarkets "Interspar". Not all of these brands or formats are used in every country however.
The company has been a major sponsor of the European Athletic Association and its events since 1996.
Martin Slaven works for the companies Rothesay Shop and goes under the name of Spar Boy
Contents |
[edit] Slogans
- "SPAR is de boodschap": the original Dutch slogan (a play on the double meaning of boodschap: "purchase" and "message"
- "So near, so SPAR"
- "Under the tree, at SPAR"
- "Du kjenner oss" ("You know us"), Norwegian slogan
- "Always close to you", Spanish slogan
- "Good for you", South African slogan
- "Good for me", Slovenian slogan
- "There for you", United Kingdom slogan
- "Expect a little more", Northern Irish Eurospar slogan, previously "Big On Value"
[edit] SPAR International Statistics 2005
| Country | Retail Sales (Euro 000's) |
Retail Store Numbers |
Retail Sales Area(m²) |
Average Store Size (m²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 4.156.400 | 1.434 | 949.114 | 662 |
| Germany | 3.519.925 | 1.549 | 747.750 | 483 |
| UK | 3.393.612 | 2.707 | 368.351 | 136 |
| Italy | 3.304.738 | 1.801 | 684.202 | 380 |
| South Africa | 2.729.358 | 732 | 650.843 | 889 |
| Norway | 1.134.644 | 348 | 173.311 | 498 |
| Japan | 1.131.351 | 723 | 148.201 | 205 |
| Spain | 1.093.944 | 1.476 | 379.489 | 257 |
| Ireland | 1.092.000 | 428 | 109.201 | 255 |
| Denmark | 840.279 | 522 | 140.181 | 269 |
| Finland | 735.000 | 292 | 166.163 | 569 |
| Hungary | 797.519 | 168 | 201.801 | 1.201 |
| France | 657.125 | 788 | 195.935 | 249 |
| Belgium | 626.307 | 373 | 141.037 | 378 |
| Greece | 554.960 | 162 | 113.906 | 703 |
| Slovenia | 493.263 | 60 | 88.597 | 1.611 |
| Netherlands | 362.012 | 311 | 89.632 | 288 |
| Czech Rep. | 361.835 | 139 | 120.526 | 867 |
| Switzerland | 279.634 | 148 | 54.523 | 370 |
| Russia | 201.792 | 41 | 29.850 | 718 |
| Sweden | 130.353 | 32 | 25.250 | 789 |
| Botswana | 70.846 | 24 | 16.896 | 704 |
| Namibia | 61.286 | 23 | 18.806 | 818 |
| Poland | 52.671 | 47 | 12.016 | 256 |
| Romania | — | 7 | — | — |
| Australia | 34.119 | 40 | 15.685 | 392 |
| Ukraine | 30.045 | 12 | 10.520 | 877 |
| Croatia | 20.003 | 1 | 4.065 | 4.065 |
| Zimbabwe | 19.891 | 83 | 35.137 | 423 |
| Mauritius | 17.482 | 5 | 4.500 | 900 |
| Zambia | 8.597 | 2 | 4.500 | 2.25 |
| China | 7.155 | 3 | 17.000 | 5.667 |
| India | 2.069 | 1 | 251 | 251 |
| Total | 27.920.206 | 14.477 | 5.717.539 | 395 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Yahoo! - SPAR Handels-Aktiengesellschaft Company Profile (2,500+1,175+200 stores)
- Yahoo! - SPAR (UK) Limited Company Profile (2,600 stores)
Major chains: ASDA • Marks & Spencer • Morrisons • Sainsbury's • Somerfield • Tesco • Waitrose
Convenience stores: Budgens • Co-op • Costcutter • Londis • SPAR
