Spar plans 60 new stores as operator targets €1.67bn sales

Outlets to be based in new housing estates, says company owner, with 100 existing stores also set to be upgraded

The number of Spar and Eurospar shops is to increase by 60 to 525 over the next three years.

The owner of Spar and Eurospar plan to open 60 new outlets focusing on new housing estates and upgrade 100 existing outlets, as it sets new sales target across the two retail chains.

BWG also operates the Mace, Londis, and XL retail brands, as well as a number of key wholesale businesses. It said it generated total sales across the Spar and Eurospar chains of €1.6bn last year, and forecast sales will increase to €1.67bn in 2023. 

It said it will open 60 new stores under the Spar and Eurospar names over the next three years to increase the total number of stores under the two brands to 525 outlets. 

BWG currently operates more than 1,000 outlets across all the businesses it operates in the Republic. Spar in the North is owned separately. 

BWG group chief executive Leo Crawford said that Spar and Eurospar were continuing "to perform very well". 

Following the sale of minority stakes by Mr Crawford and other senior Irish managers, BWG is now fully owned by Spar Group, the South African company whose operations also include outlets in England, Switzerland, and Poland. 

In a recent update, the South African company said that sales at BWG had risen strongly, "boosted by strong performances in Ireland across all retail brands", amid a recovery from the pandemic a year earlier. 

"Operating costs continue to be impacted by higher distribution and labour costs across both markets," Spar Group said in the update.