Spar to enter Chinese market

Spar International today announced it has signed a licence agreement with local Shandong retailer Jia Jia Yue Supermarket Co Ltd to introduce the Spar brand to the Chinese retail market.

Spar International was recently chosen by the Chinese government as a voluntary chain for independent retailers and to assist in protecting the independent food retailing sector ahead of the planned opening of trade borders in December 2004.

The licence agreement will result in 15 new Interspar hypermarkets being introduced to Shandong province in East China (population 87 million) over the next three years.

The entrance into the retail market in China is part of Spar International’s ongoing business development plan. The organisation increased its international market presence dramatically in the 1990s and expands into new countries on a continuous basis.

Spar has 15,084 stores in 34 countries. Spar was founded in the Netherlands in 1932.