Spar is the world’s largest food retailer, with approximately 20,000 stores in 35 countries worldwide.
SPAR originated in the Netherlands in 1932 and now, through its affiliate organisations, operates through most European countries, South Africa, Asia and Australia. It operates on a principle similar to
retailers' co-operativeA retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. It is common for locally owned grocery stores,...
s elsewhere, with owners grouping together to get bulk discounts from suppliers/wholesalers.
The name was originally DE SPAR, which was an acronym formed from the
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
phrase
Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig (literally: "through united co-operation everyone regularly profits").
Spar is the world’s largest food retailer, with approximately 20,000 stores in 35 countries worldwide.
SPAR originated in the Netherlands in 1932 and now, through its affiliate organisations, operates through most European countries, South Africa, Asia and Australia. It operates on a principle similar to
retailers' co-operativeA retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. It is common for locally owned grocery stores,...
s elsewhere, with owners grouping together to get bulk discounts from suppliers/wholesalers.
Etymology
The name was originally DE SPAR, which was an acronym formed from the
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
phrase
Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig (literally: "through united co-operation everyone regularly profits").
Spaar or
spar means "save (money)" in
AfrikaansAfrikaans is an Indo-European language derived from Dutch and thus classified as Low Franconian West Germanic. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, the United...
, Dutch,
DanishDanish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
,
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
,
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
and
NorwegianNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
.
De spar in Dutch means "the
firFirs are a genus of between 48-55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. All are trees, reaching heights of 10-80 m tall and trunk diameters of 0.5-4 m when mature...
tree", hence Spar's
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was later abbreviated by dropping "DE", but the underlying meaning remains (in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, 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).
History
In 1953 an International
Spar office was opened in
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
to control and further develop the organisation throughout Europe and other continents. Most
Spar stores are in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, but they can also be found in a few countries outside of Europe, such as
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
,
BotswanaThe Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
,
NamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east...
,
ZimbabweZimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers...
,
ZambiaThe Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is...
,
SwazilandThe Kingdom of Swaziland , sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II.Swaziland is a small country, no...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
MauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In Japan the store operates under the name
Hotspar, although the store
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
colouring remains unchanged. In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Spar has become known primarily as a
convenience storeA convenience store is a small store or shop that sells items such as candy, ice-cream, soft drinks, lottery tickets, newspapers and magazines, along with a selection of processed food and perhaps some groceries. Stores that are part of gas stations may also sell motor oil, windshield washer fluid,...
format but in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
Spar operates using the subformat Eurospar too.
A Spar store may be owned independently, by a
franchiseeFranchising is the practice of using another person's business model. The franchisor grants the independent operator the right to distribute its products, techniques, and trademarks for a percentage of gross monthly sales and a royalty fee...
, or be part of a
chainChain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses....
, 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 most recently revised in 1968 by
Raymond LoewyRaymond Fernand Loewy was one of the best known industrial designers of the 20th century. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States where he influenced countless aspects of North American culture...
and has remained unchanged ever since.
There are a number of sub-brands under the Spar brand, with larger
supermarketA supermarket, also called a grocery store in some parts of North America, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s being branded "Eurospar" or in Africa "Superspar", smaller stores "Spar Express", and
hypermarketIn commerce, a hypermarket is a superstore which combines a supermarket and a department store. The result is a very large retail facility which carries an enormous range of products under one roof, including full lines of groceries and general merchandise...
s "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 AssociationThe European Athletic Association is the European governing body for the sport of athletics.-History:In 1932, during a meeting of the International Amateur Athletic Federation in Los Angeles, a special committee was designated by the Council with the task of reviewing the conditions for the...
and its events since 1996.
The only Drive-Thru Spar in the world is on the Cliftonville Road in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Slogans
- "Spar is de boodschap": the original Dutch slogan (a play on the double meaning of boodschap: "grocery" and "message")
- "Wat je dichtbij haalt is lekker" ("What you get from close-by, is good" ) : the current Dutch slogan; it's a play on the Dutch saying "what you get from far, is good")
- "There's a friendly Spar where ever you are", South African slogan
- "So near, so Spar", United Kingdom slogan
- "Spar: There for you", current United Kingdom slogan
- "Under the tree, at Spar" (former Irish slogan, jingle still retained today)
- "Du kjenner oss" ("You know us"), Norwegian slogan
- "More passion for good prices", Romanian slogan
- "Always close to you", Spanish slogan
- "Good for you", South African slogan
- "Dobro zame" ("Good for me"), Slovenian slogan
- "There for you", United Kingdom slogan
- "Big On Value", "Expect a little more" previous Northern Irish Eurospar slogans, now brought into line with the rest of Ireland under the slogan The Supereasy Supermarket
- "Always there for you", Republic of Ireland slogan
- "The Super Easy Supermarket", Irish Eurospar slogan.
- "Making everyday better", Australian slogan, previously "Good Food, Easy Shopping"
- "Alles da – Interspar!" ("Everything there – Interspar"), Austrian Interspar slogan.
- "Taste of Spar", Austrian slogan
- "Mindig Spar" ("Always Spar"), most used Hungarian slogan
- "Baš za mene, Interšpar za mene" (Perfect for me, Interspar for me) - Croatian and Serbian Interspar slogan
- "We got Spar", United Kingdom Slogan (1990s)
- "Quello che vuoi tu, e un po' di più" ("What you want, and a little more"), Italian slogan
- "Spar - der hvor du kan" ("Spar - Where you can") a play on SPAR meaning "save (money)" in Danish, current Danish slogan
International statistics 2006
| Country |
Sales (thousands) |
No. of stores |
Sales area(m²) |
Sales per area |
Average Store
Size (m²) |
 AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
|
€4,307,010 |
1,429 |
980,738 |
€4,392/m² |
686 |
 ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
|
€3,788,681 |
1,892 |
798,707 |
€4,744/m² |
422 |
 United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
|
€3,734,850 |
2,535 |
361,800 |
€10,323/m² |
143 |
 South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
|
€2,643,232 |
794 |
736,434 |
€3,589/m² |
927 |
 GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
|
€1,388,648 |
717 |
185,870 |
€7,471/m² |
259 |
 SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. [The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
|
€1,188,330 |
1,526 |
394,407 |
€3,013/m² |
258 |
 IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
|
€1,187,000 |
422 |
113,506 |
€10,458/m² |
257 |
 NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
|
€1,161,159 |
327 |
166,711 |
€6,965/m² |
510 |
 HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
|
€975,883 |
204 |
236,041 |
€4,134/m² |
1,236 |
 DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
|
€863,868 |
485 |
141,710 |
€6,096/m² |
292 |
 FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
|
€834,198 |
877 |
220,483 |
€3,784/m² |
251 |
 Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
|
€810,530 |
683 |
141,318 |
€5,736/m² |
207 |
 BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
|
€655,488 |
365 |
144,026 |
€4,551/m² |
395 |
 GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
|
€572,741 |
161 |
114,554 |
€5,000/m² |
712 |
 SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
|
€552,800 |
69 |
103,556 |
€5,338/m² |
1,644 |
 Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
|
€420,286 |
140 |
127,140 |
€3,306/m² |
908 |
 NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
|
€377,061 |
298 |
89,198 |
€4,227/m² |
299 |
 SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
|
€295,402 |
149 |
57,434 |
€5,143/m² |
385 |
 RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
|
€292,752 |
81 |
44,481 |
€6,582/m² |
549 |
 ZimbabweZimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers...
|
€160,426 |
79 |
42,682 |
€3,759/m² |
540 |
 PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
|
€60,388 |
50 |
12,799 |
€4,718/m² |
256 |
 AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
|
€55,792 |
75 |
22,405 |
€2,490/m² |
487 |
 BotswanaThe Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
|
€55,038 |
23 |
16,972 |
€3,243/m² |
738 |
 NamibiaNamibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in Southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east...
|
€54,046 |
22 |
20,023 |
€2,699/m² |
910 |
 CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a country in southeast Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Zagreb...
* |
€49,140 |
3 |
13,115 |
€3,747/m² |
4,372 |
 ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
* |
€30,000 |
17 |
94,000 |
€319/m² |
5,529 |
 MauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands...
|
€16,681 |
6 |
5,300 |
€3,147/m² |
883 |
 ZambiaThe Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is...
|
€14,626 |
5 |
11,801 |
€1,239/m² |
2,360 |
 UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
|
€13,651 |
15 |
3,531 |
€3,866/m² |
441 |
 RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
* |
€6,142 |
8 |
13,945 |
€440/m² |
1,743 |
 IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
|
€5,000 |
3 |
450 |
€11,111/m² |
225 |
| Total |
€27,040,849 |
13,686 |
5,567,927 |
€4,856/m² |
407 |
- *A number of stores opened late in 2006
- India now has 3 Spar stores - 2 Bangalore, 1 Hyderabad and 1 more store stated to open in Bangalore in October 2009.
External links