Middle East: Spar International enters market

Dutch retailer Spar International has announced plans to enter the Middle East market with the aim of having 30 stores open by the end of 2015.

As reported by Fast Moving, the company currently has over 12,000 stores worldwide and is looking to open eight stores in Abu Dhabi, two in Qatar and one in Lebanon. The company also added that it plans to expand further in the UAE as well as potentially entering Oman and Saudi Arabia over the next three years.

Gordon Campbell, managing director of Spar International, said that company’s focus would be on “a range of fresh foods and the convenience of food to go and food to stay, with a seating area in the compact stores”.

He continued: “Wherever we go, the competition say the market is saturated. The reality is the food market is evolving always with new ideas and concepts”.

“Spar's unique selling point will be its convenience stores and large supermarkets of around 1,800 square metres, while other retailers in the region have focused on hypermarkets with sizes of around 10,000 square metres”, he concluded.

Source: Fast Moving