Despite a downturn in the economy, sales at the three Spar retail formats rose by over 15% in 2007, with the overall Spar brand growing at over twice the market average.
Sales across the three brands – Spar, Eurospar and Spar Express – climbed to €1.67 billion in 2007. This sales figure, an increase of 15.7% on 2006, represents a growth rate of over double that of the total grocery market, which expanded by an estimated 7% in 2007.
While Spar said that like-for-like sales were strong, new store additions provided the platform for growth, with 52 new stores added to the network during the year. The majority of these, 28, were in the Spar convenience format, with five new Eurospar stores. 19 new Spar Express stores were added, including an international flagship store in Spawell in Dublin. This store, Spar said, now had one of the highest footfalls of any forecourt of its size in Ireland.
Spar managing director Peter Kealy said that the group was on track to add 40 new stores to the network this year. 16 new stores had already opened so far, he said, with a ‘strong pipeline’ of new stores coming on stream.
Kealy said while the slowdown in the economy had affected some retailers, innovation in food-to-go concepts was helping in this respect. In addition, negotiations between Spar and its suppliers regarding euro/sterling price reductions were now feeding through at retail level, he said, with retailers now able to pass these on to the consumer.
Meanwhile, Spar Ireland’s growth in 2007 means that it is now in the top five Spar territories worldwide – up two places from 2006. In total, Spar had global retail sales of over €27 billion last year from 13,604 stores in 33 countries.
For more on this story see the June issue of Checkout – out next week.
