Spar (retailer)

SPAR International B.V.
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1932 (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]
Websitespar-international.com

SPAR, originally "DESPAR", styled as "DE SPAR"[2] (Dutch pronunciation:[dəˈspɑr]), is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores.[3] It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932,[4] by Adriaan van Well, although the largest number of stores are located in the United Kingdom.

Logo without the red box, used in Northern Ireland and other markets

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

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]

By 2024, the group had 13,900 stores in 48 countries.[5]

Etymology

The name was originally DESPAR, an acronym of the Dutch phrase Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig[note 1]'Through united co-operation everyone profits regularly', which was used by Van Well to describe the brand.[6] The acronym was chosen to resonate with the verb sparen, which (related to English spare) means "save [money]" in Dutch and some other languages, among them German[7] and Scandinavian languages (with variants such as spara or spare). Spar is Dutch for "spruce tree", after which the logo was chosen. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was abbreviated by dropping the DE prefix.[6][8]

There are some international naming variants:

  • In Hungary, 17 stores owned by SPAR located at Orlen (former Lukoil) filling stations operate under the name DESPAR.[9] However, there are also many SPAR and INTERSPAR locations.
  • 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.[10]
  • In Austria, DESPAR is SPAR's Italian food product range.[11] There are also EUROSPAR and INTERSPAR locations within Austria.[12][13]
  • In Croatia, SPAR and INTERSPAR locations run concurrently.[14]
  • In Saudi Arabia, the Latin letters SPAR are displayed next to the Arabic سبار (sbār).[15][16][17]
  • In Iran, it is called اسپار (Aspar).[18][19]
  • In China, it is known as 斯巴超市 (Sībā chāoshì, "Siba supermarket").[20]
  • In Ireland, Northern Ireland, Russia and Switzerland, both the SPAR and EUROSPAR names are used with EUROSPAR being used mostly for larger supermarket sized stores and SPAR for smaller convenience stores.
  • In Slovenia, both SPAR and INTERSPAR are used, with INTERSPAR being used for a larger supermarket sized stores and SPAR for smaller convenience stores[21]

History

20th century

SPAR shop in Leeuwarden, Netherlands
SPAR shop in Muscat, Oman

Spar was founded in 1932 in Zegwaart, Netherlands. In 1953, an International Spar office opened in Amsterdam to 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, and India.[22] Spar opened in Vanuatu on 1 December 2009, ending Au Bon Marché's grocery monopoly.[23]

A Spar shop may be owned independently, by a franchise, 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.[24]

In the United Kingdom, Spar was founded in 1959 and 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.[25] In Ireland and Northern 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.[26]

Spar stores in the Netherlands are members of Superunie, an inventory purchasing organisation for a number of otherwise unaffiliated supermarket brands.

In 1988, SPAR South Africa became a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiger Brands, a holding company with a large diversified portfolio. It was unbundled and listed as a separate company in 2004.[27]

21st century

In July 2014, SPAR South Africa opened its first supermarket in Angola but no expansion of the brand is planned for this market. Since 2021, the group has 100% of BWG Foods, which had outlets in Ireland and southern Britain.[28]

In 2015, Ahold acquired all 35 hypermarkets and 14 supermarkets from Spar Czechia for more than 5.2 billion Czech koruna.[29] 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 had 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 were planned to open in 2018, but it got cancelled.[30]

SPAR opened in Saudi Arabia in 2017, sublicensed to Al-Sadhan Group [31] opening its first stores in Riyadh.

In 2017, Ceylon Biscuits Limited in Sri Lanka acquired a license to operate the Spar brand in Sri Lanka as Spar Lanka. This is a joint venture of Ceylon Biscuits Limited and SPAR South Africa.[32] They opened the first store in Thalawathugoda, Colombo. The plan is to open 50 outlets in the country by 2023.[33]

In 2020, there were more than 13,500 SPAR stores in 48 countries.[34]

In 2022, SPAR International entered the Kazakhstani retail market.[35]

In 2022, Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal announced plans to open SPAR stores in Israel; with 10 stores to be opened in the first three years of operation.[36] Also in 2022, SPAR entered Latvia where by 2023 it opened 23 stores.[37][38] A first Israeli Spar store was opened in 2024.

At the beginning of 2025, Tokmanni Oy signed a license agreement with Spar International. The granted license gives Tokmanni the exclusive right to sell Spar products and use the Spar brand in Finland.[39] In June 2025, the first Spar-branded food department was opened in the town of Ylöjärvi.[40] Before that, Spar has had stores in Finland in years 1962–1973 and 1998–2005.[39][41] In October 2025, the second SPAR store opened in the town of Masku.[42]

Operations

By 2024, the group had 13,900 stores in 48 countries.[5]

  • 255 distribution centres[1]
  • €41.2 billion total sales[1]
  • 410,000 SPAR colleagues[1]
  • 7.5 million m2 retail sales area[1]
  • 14.5 million customers per day[1]
Number of stores per country
CountryNumber of stores[43]Formats
Albania100[44]SPAR, SPAR express, INTERSPAR
Angola38[45]SPAR, SPAR express
Australia111[46]SPAR, SPAR express, SUPERSPAR
Austria1511[47]SPAR, SPAR express, SPAR Gourmet, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR, INTERSPAR Pronto, INTERSPAR Take Away
Azerbaijan53[48]SPAR, SPAR express, SPAR Market
Belgium317[49]SPAR, SPAR express
Botswana71[50]SPAR, SUPERSPAR
Cameroon16[51]SPAR, SPAR express
China331[52]SPAR
Croatia145[53]SPAR, INTERSPAR
Denmark141[54]SPAR
Finland2[55]EUROSPAR
France702[56]SPAR, EUROSPAR
Georgia382[57]SPAR, SPAR express
Germany234[58]SPAR express
Hungary652[59]SPAR, SPAR express, INTERSPAR
India24[60]SPAR, SPAR Hypermarket
Ireland463[61]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR
Italy1417[62]DESPAR, DESPAR express, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR
Kazakhstan7[63]SPAR
Kosovo10[64]SPAR
Kyrgyzstan7[65]SPAR
Latvia24[66]SPAR, SPAR express
Malta12[67]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR
Mozambique17[68]SPAR
Monaco1[69]SPAR
Namibia64[70]SPAR, SPAR express, SUPERSPAR
Netherlands418[71]SPAR, SPAR express, SPAR city, SPAR enjoy, SPAR university
Nigeria14[72]SPAR
Norway284[73]SPAR, EUROSPAR
Oman28[74]SPAR
Pakistan5[75]SPAR, SPAR express
Paraguay1[76]SPAR
Poland212[77]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR
Portugal175[78]SPAR
Qatar7[79]SPAR
Russia203[80]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR, EUROSPAR express
Rwanda1[81]SPAR
Saudi Arabia15[82]SPAR, SPAR express
Seychelles1[83]SPAR
Slovenia159[84]SPAR, INTERSPAR
South Africa1094[85]SPAR, KWIKSPAR, SPAR express, SUPERSPAR, SaveMor
Spain1435[86]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR
Sri Lanka18[87]SPAR, SPAR Supermarket
Switzerland252[88]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR
Ukraine118[89]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR
United Arab Emirates12[90]SPAR, SPAR express
United Kingdom2190[91]SPAR, SPAR express, EUROSPAR (Northern Ireland only)
Zambia3[92]SPAR
Zimbabwe32[93]SPAR

Store formats

In most, but not all countries, SPAR operates shops of different types and sub-brands including SPAR Express, SPAR, EuroSPAR and InterSPAR.[94]

Current store formats

INTERSPAR shop in Miskolc, Hungary

EuroSPAR

The EuroSPAR name is used in Europe for mid-sized supermarkets, designed to fit in a niche between convenience shops and traditional supermarkets.[95]

INTERSPAR

INTERSPAR is an Austrian hypermarket chain founded in 1970 and owned by SPAR Austria, operating large stores ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 m² in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and Northeastern Italy.[96][97]

KwikSPAR

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.

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

SPAR

Standard traditional supermarket format.

SPAR Express

This is the smallest type of shop. They are designed for small sites and filling station forecourts, airports and train stations.[98]

SPAR Gourmet

SUPERSPAR in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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 the Julius Meinl coffee and tea chain in 2000.[99][100][101]

SUPERSPAR

The SUPERSPAR name is used in Australia, designed to fit in a niche between convenience shops and traditional supermarkets. In South Africa, the name is used for large supermarkets.[95]

Defunct store formats

Former HOT SPAR shop in Sōka, Japan

HOT SPAR

HOT SPAR was a brand of convenience stores licensed to franchisees in Japan.[102]

SPAR Drive-Thru

There was a drive-through SPAR on the Cliftonville Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This has now been converted to a Centra shop, and retained the drive-through for a while afterwards, but now no longer has one.[103]

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ abcdefghijk"SPAR Annual Review 2022". SPAR International. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  2. ^The first DESPAR store, opened in the Netherlands, 1932. Spar International. Archived 2017-06-06.
  3. ^"About us". SPAR International. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. ^"Spar boss brings in Subway and Greggs to snatch grocery spend from retail giants". The Daily Telegraph. 28 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. ^ ab"About Us". spar-international.com. 2024..
  6. ^ ab"The History of SPAR". SPAR International. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  7. ^"Englisch-Deutsch Wörterbuch". LEO. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  8. ^"SPAR – Some Untold stories - Reena D Souza". 25 May 2018.
  9. ^"DESPAR" (in Hungarian). Lukoil Magyarország. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  10. ^"SPAR Italy". SPAR International. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  11. ^"DESPAR" (in German). SPAR Österreich. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  12. ^"Spar.at". Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  13. ^"Interspar.at". Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  14. ^"SPAR i INTERSPAR Hrvatska: mi smo tu za Vas". SPAR.hr. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  15. ^"Further expansion for SPAR in Qatar". SPAR International.
  16. ^عروض سبار قطر من 12 حتى 16/6/2021. العروض اون لاين. 13 June 2021.
  17. ^نت, تسوق (28 April 2021). عروض اليوم بفروع سبار السعودية من 28 إبريل حتى 4 مايو 2021 رمضان كريم. العروض اون لاين.
  18. ^"اسپار – برای رفع نیازهای شما" (in Persian).
  19. ^رازهای موفقیت و محبوبیت «اسپار». www.tejaratetalaeenews.ir (in Persian).
  20. ^斯巴超市 （Spar）是荷蘭的一家跨國零售企業，在全世界42個國家開設有約12.500個店鋪。斯巴超市創建於1932年。現在斯巴超市已經在大部分歐洲國家，部分非洲、亞洲、大洋洲. ww.cn.freejournal.org (in Chinese).
  21. ^"SPAR SLOVENIJA".
  22. ^"SPAR Country Figures". SPAR International. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  23. ^"SPAR Australia opens first Vanuatu shop: AUS". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  24. ^"SPAR". Raymond Loewy Foundation. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  25. ^"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.
  26. ^"Athletics, Sprints and Sports Days". SPAR. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  27. ^Trade Intelligence – SPAR, accessed 2 October 2010
  28. ^Mark Allix (12 August 2014). "Spar buys stake in Irish supermarkets". BusinessLIVE. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  29. ^"SPAR odchází z českého trhu, z padesáti prodejen budou Alberty". iDNES.cz. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  30. ^Aguilar, Joey (2 April 2018). "Spar's flagship store opens at Tawar Mall". Gulf Times.
  31. ^"Saudi Spar to open 40 branches by 2020". 2 February 2018.
  32. ^"SPAR Sri Lanka". Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  33. ^"* Spar continues expansion with entry into Sri Lanka". Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  34. ^"SPAR CI Annual Review English". SPAR CI Annual Review English. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  35. ^"SPAR continues expansion with entry into Kazakhstan" (Press release).
  36. ^"Shufersal in talks to open SPAR stores in Israel". Globes. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  37. ^"The international retail network "Spar" plans to start work in Latvia in the summer". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  38. ^"'Elvi' franchise partner 'Banderi S.IDE' will join the 'Spar' network with dozens of stores". www.delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  39. ^ abToivonen, Janne (14 January 2025). "Tokmannista tulee Suomen neljäs ruokakaupan ketju – julkisti yhteistyön Sparin kanssa, myymälät muuttuvat". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  40. ^Hallamaa, Teemu (12 June 2025). "Uusi ruokakauppaketju avasi Suomessa – näin se voi vaikuttaa hintoihin". Yle (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  41. ^Laitinen, Joonas (14 January 2025). "Spar palaa Suomeen". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  42. ^"SPAR Finland opens second EUROSPAR supermarket". SPAR International. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  43. ^"SPAR International". SPAR International. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  44. ^"SPAR Albania". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  45. ^"SPAR Angola". SPAR International. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  46. ^"SPAR Australia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  47. ^"SPAR Austria". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  48. ^"SPAR Azerbaijan". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  49. ^"SPAR Belgium". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  50. ^"SPAR Botswana". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  51. ^"SPAR Cameroon". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  52. ^"SPAR China". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  53. ^"SPAR Croatia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  54. ^"SPAR Denmark". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  55. ^"SPAR". Tokmanni (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  56. ^"SPAR France". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  57. ^"SPAR Georgia Profile". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  58. ^"SPAR Germany". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  59. ^"SPAR Hungary". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  60. ^"SPAR India". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  61. ^"SPAR Ireland". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  62. ^"SPAR Italy". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  63. ^"SPAR Kazakhstan". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  64. ^"SPAR Kosovo". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  65. ^"SPAR Kyrgyzstan". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  66. ^"SPAR Latvia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  67. ^"SPAR Malta". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  68. ^"SPAR Mozambique". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  69. ^"Spar". Metropole Shopping Monte-Carlo. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  70. ^"SPAR Namibia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  71. ^"SPAR | bekijk het winkeloverzicht van SPAR". www.spar.nl. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  72. ^"SPAR Nigeria". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  73. ^"SPAR Norway". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  74. ^"SPAR Oman". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  75. ^"SPAR Pakistan". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  76. ^"SPAR enters Latin America, opening in Paraguay". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  77. ^"SPAR Poland". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  78. ^"SPAR Portugal". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  79. ^"SPAR Qatar". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  80. ^"Магазины". myspar.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  81. ^"First SPAR Supermarket opens its doors in Rwanda". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  82. ^"SPAR Saudi Arabia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  83. ^"SPAR Seychelles". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  84. ^"SPAR Slovenia". SPAR International. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  85. ^"SPAR South Africa". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  86. ^"SPAR Spain". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  87. ^"SPAR Sri Lanka". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  88. ^"SPAR Switzerland". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  89. ^"SPAR Ukraine". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  90. ^"SPAR UAE". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  91. ^"SPAR United Kingdom". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  92. ^"SPAR Zambia". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  93. ^"SPAR Zimbabwe". SPAR International. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  94. ^Eric Pfanner (12 November 2004). "An international grocery giant is emerging from the shadows". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  95. ^ ab"Shop formats". Spar International. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  96. ^"The hypermarket". Aspiag. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  97. ^Ians (28 January 2011). "SPAR to open 24 more hypermarkets in next two years". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  98. ^"Shop formats". Spar South Africa. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  99. ^"Chronologie: Von Konsum bis Rewe". Derstandard.at. 24 February 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  100. ^"SPAR Gourmet". SPAR (in German). SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  101. ^"Julius Meinl veräußert Lebensmittelhandel an die Spar – Institution". APA-OTS Originaltext-Service (in German). Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  102. ^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. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
    • 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"
  103. ^"Inquiry into Town Centre Regeneration". Northern Ireland Assembly Archive Site. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  • Media related to SPAR at Wikimedia Commons
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