Spar returns to India

Spar International and Max Hypermarkets signed a license agreement to open Spar-branded hypermarkets and supermarkets across India. Max Hypermarkets is a subsidiary of the Landmark Group, a retail group headquartered in Dubai.

The plan is to open seven new stores over the next two years, with a kick-off next month in Bangalore where the first Spar hypermarket (85,000 sq ft) and Spar supermarket (28,000 sq ft) will be opened. Total investment for the seven stores is budgetted at 2 billion rupees (US$49mn).

Spar International’s managing director Dr Gordon Campbell commented: "This is an exciting and important development for us. Developing SPAR Hypermarkets in India is a key element in our strategic plan. India is a market with enormous potential and we are pleased to have found an excellent partner in Max Hypermarkets."

"SPAR is a leading food retail brand operating in 33 countries across different formats -- convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets. The Landmark Group is happy with this association and we do believe that this association will help the Group to expand into food retailing and bring in international standards and operations in par with the rest of the food retailers globally," said Micky Jagtiani, Chairman of the Landmark Group.

This is the second time Spar International signs a license agreement in India. In December 2004 it teamed-up with local retailer Foodland, but the agreement was cancelled in November 2006. According to PlanetRetail Radhakrishna Foodland withdrew from the SPAR partnership due to local retailers who were neither prepared to part with their individual brand names, nor give a portion of their miniscule profits to SPAR, which charges 1 per cent of sales as membership fees.