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SPAR Group history
SPAR Group company history timeline
The first EUROSPAR was opened in 1968 and a year later the SPAR Hypermarket formula, INTERSPAR, was launched.
The name and the current logo was most recently revised in 1968 by Raymond Loewy and has remained unchanged ever since.
The shrinking of Germany's retail food market segment had begun in 1968, and in the ensuing years the number of SPAR wholesalers and delivery districts decreased by about one-third to 33, while the number of SPAR independent retailers shrunk by 40 percent to 6,200 stores.
The modern SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG, a 100% privately owned Austrian company.
SPAR entered Japan in 1977 and through 'All Japan SPAR Central' built up a network of regional SPAR Partners operating both Neighbourhood Supermarkets and Convenience stores under the SPAR licence.
In 1984 SPAR moved into Scandinavia with the launch of the brand in Norway, as part of the NorgesGruppen ASA business.
1985: The largest SPAR members merge to form SPAR Handels-AG.
Immediately after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, SPAR developed a crash program to help about 3,000 East Germans set up their own SPAR neighborhood stores.
1990: First SPAR supermarket opens in former East Germany.
Designed in the style of markets in the West and stocked with products from the West, by the beginning of April 1991 there were already more than 1,500 retail stores in the new East German states that purchased products from SPAR and were interested in becoming independent SPAR retailers.
SPAR Slovenia opened its first SPAR store in the capital city, Lljublana, in 1992.
The second subsidiary of ASPIAG to join SPAR was Hungary, also in 1992.
At the beginning of 1992 SPAR Nordost was merged with the SPAR Handels-AG. All of its facilities were organized under the region Nordost.
In 1993 30 percent of SPAR's net sales derived from the new German states.
SPAR began trading in Australia in 1994 and has a history of changes in ownership due to structural changes in the retailing and wholesaling sectors.
In April 1995 a brand-new SPAR logistics center started operations in Mittenwalde near Berlin.
In 1995 there were about 1,340 independent SPAR retailers in the new German states, 11 EUROSPAR hypermarkets, eight self-service department stores, 211 Netto food discount markets, and 18 Kodi nonfood-discounters.
Beginning in 1996 SPAR went on an unprecedented acquisition spree.
1997: French trade group Intermarché becomes SPAR's majority shareholder.
SPAR's endeavor to find new strategic partners bore fruit in 1997.
In 1998 a new strategy was developed, focusing on small and mid-sized grocery and convenience stores.
SPAR was deep in the red, by over DM 300 million, in 1998.
In November 1999 SPAR wholesaler L. Stroetmann GmbH & Co. did not extend its contract with SPAR and joined competitor Edeka Zentrale.
Since 2000, SPAR has entered three key developing countries, recognised as economic powerhouses: Russia, China and India.
The first SPAR store in Russia was opened in August 2001, following the granting of the license to a regional partner by SPAR International.
SPAR Zambia Ltd was registered in 2003 and commenced trading in December of that year with the first store at Arcades Shopping Centre, in Lusaka.
SPAR was introduced to China with the signing of the license agreement for Shandong Province in 2004.
In August 2014, SPAR International and Max Hypermarkets entered into a new partnership agreement.
The license for Oman was signed with Khimji Ramdas, a US$1 billion Distribution Company, in 2014.
SPAR International granted SPAR South Africa the license for Seychelles in 2015.
The partner ceased to trade under the SPAR name at end 2016 but this market remains of interest to SPAR.
In early 2016, SPAR International granted a license to Bangchak Retail Company (BCR) to grow and develop the brand through a combination of company-owned and independently operated stores.
The first stores opened in 2017 and expansion is taking place gradually.
SPAR UAE operates three SPAR formats: SPAR Hypermarket, SPAR Supermarket and SPAR Express, with the move into Dubai in 2019.
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SPAR Group competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium Retail Services | 1985 | $300.0M | 10,000 | 1,290 |
| Resource Plus | 1997 | $600.0M | 3,000 | 131 |
| SASR Workforce Solutions | 2003 | $110.0M | 1,500 | - |
| Apollo Retail | 1992 | - | 5,000 | 298 |
| Acosta | 1927 | $1.9B | 37,000 | 10,483 |
| Lawrence Merchandising Services | 1962 | $6.5M | 45 | - |
| Retail Merchandising Services, Inc. | - | - | 3,001 | - |
| WorkSmart Merchandising | 2003 | $5.6M | 103 | - |
| Strategic Retail Solutions | - | $8.0M | 15 | 25 |
| News America Marketing | 1988 | $40.0M | 900 | 1 |
SPAR Group history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of SPAR Group, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about SPAR Group. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at SPAR Group. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by SPAR Group. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of SPAR Group and its employees or that of Zippia.
SPAR Group may also be known as or be related to SPAR Group, SPAR Group Inc, SPAR Group Inc., SPAR Group, Inc., SPAR Inc. and Spar Group, Inc.