SPAR

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This article is about the convenience store. For other uses, see Spar (disambiguation).

SPAR logo.

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

1 Slogans
2 SPAR International Statistics 2005
3 External links
4 References

[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