History
Spar was founded in 1932 in the Dutch city of Zoetermeer. In 1953 an International Spar office 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 Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Australia, Mauritius, China, India, Japan and Vanuatu.
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 most recently revised in 1968 by Raymond Loewy and has remained unchanged ever since.
In the United Kingdom Spar has become known primarily as a convenience store, although in Northern Ireland Spar operates using the subformat Eurospar too. Spar opened in the Republic of Vanuatu on 1 December 2009 ending Au Bon Marché's grocery monopoly.
In 1997, Spar was introduced to most United Kingdom military bases by Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (Naafi), where it sells a variety of civilian and military products.
The Dutch Spar is a member of Superunie, a Dutch purchasing organization for supermarkets.
Read more about this topic: Spar (retailer)
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