Archive of all Spar articles – Page 39
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Station convenience stores: Connex turns to French for new
Connex has spurned Spar and Costcutter as it launches a new convenience chain at its stations in the south east of England. The French rail operator plans to develop 40 sites in the next three years after successful trials in Leatherhead with Spar...
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Symbol groups: National forecourt drive on the way from Lond
Competition in the forecourt store market is gathering pace with new packages from Londis and Spar wholesaler Appleby Westward. Londis will approach 7,000 petrol retailers nationwide in the search for sites. Appleby Westward will concentrate on its...
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Appleby Westward: AW creates hit squad for fresh foods
Spar's south west wholesaler Appleby Westward has appointed a hit squad to boost sales of fresh foods. In pilot exercises at 12 Spar stores, growth in fresh food sales outpaced dried foods by 5% following a revamp of the section. Now the team of...
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There's life in the old VG yet
The VG fascia should not be written off, says CJ Lang chief executive David Walker. The VG name is jointly owned by CJ Lang and John Henderson, the Spar wholesalers for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. There are just 13 VG stores left...
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Retail spotlight: Redditch Spar forecourt
Cars fuel Spar sales Redditch is home to one of teh country's most successful forecourt operations, a family business thst stays alive to new ideas. Tony Hurren reports A Spar petrol forecourt shop at Redditch, Worcestershire, is taking more than...
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Russia: Spar close to finding entrepreneurial partners
International Spar is in advanced discussions with wholesalers and local entrepreneurs around Moscow about setting up Spar outlets in Russian cities near the capital. International Spar's deputy general manager Gerrit Kok told The Grocer the group...
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Spar: CJ Lang: we're investing for growth, not selling!
Spar's Scottish wholesaler is definitely not for sale, according to its chief executive David Walker. There have been frequent rumours in the trade suggesting the family which owns CJ Lang was about to sell the business, but Walker said: "There is...
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AF Blakemore: JVCs key to expansion
Joint venture schemes enabling wholesalers and independents to share the cost of buying up new stores are a key part of AF Blakemore's expansion strategy, said the Spar wholesaler's retail director Elwyn Davies. "It's early days but we've bedded...
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The Grocer top products survey: sauces
Shaun Quinton Senior trading manager, proprietary brands Spar UK Central Office Our stores are more for destination top-up as opposed to planned purchase so we tend to do well on standard variants such as Chicken Tonight, Ragú and Uncle Ben's,...
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Robert Wiseman Dairies Awards: Winning ways that build confi
Three happy c-store retailers can celebrate Christmas in the sure knowledge that they have won the confidence of their neighbourhood. Margaret Low, who manages the 900 sq ft Spar store in Munro Avenue, Kilmarnock, and Jane and David Scott, who run...
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Scotland: They're great neighbours
Retailers in Kilmarnock and West Cumbria scooped the top prizes in this year's Robert Wiseman Dairies Neighbourhood Shop of the Year awards ceremony in Glasgow. Margaret Low, who manages a Spar store in Munro Avenue, Kilmarnock, received the...
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Netherlands: Format retreat is dangerous'
Dutch retailer Laurus' radical restructuring plans to axe five of its six store formats, fire half its head office staff and sell non core assets, including its Spar c-stores, have surprised analysts expecting less drastic measures to tackle the...
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E-trading: Spar members promised a global intranet next year
Spar International’s priority for 2001 is to set up an intranet to link Spar members across the globe, said group md Gordon Campbell at a Spar retail conference in Harrogate. “The internet will fundamentally change the way we do business over the…
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Spar: Chiefs sound alert over need for keener pricing
Spar must adopt "keener pricing" on key brands to tackle the perception that convenience stores are expensive places to shop, delegates were told at this year's Central Meridian Guild Spar retail conference in Harrogate. Urging independents to join...
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North Wales monopoly
Derwent Stores in Tremadog, a suburb of Porthmadog in North Wales, occupies a near monopoly position. Trading as a Spar and one of Spar's leading outlets in North Wales weekly sales are over £14,000. Weekly newsbill is £850. Retail area is 650...
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That was the year that was 10
May 25, 1991. Convenience newcomer Morning Noon & Night is due to open its first store on Wednesday in Aberdeen. It is on track to have seven stores by the end of July according to md Eddie Thompson. Three of these stores are Spar defectors, and all...
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Multiples: Sainsbury's squares up to Spar with first Local o
Sainsbury is to take on Spar's flagship store in Wylde Green, Birmingham, with the opening of its first Local outside the M25 corridor. The new Local, which is due to open next February, will be in the same precinct as the Blakemore owned Spar....
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Symbol groups: Spar finds a partner for local home shopping
Spar has teamed up with neighbourhood online shopping service BeeBeep.com to provide local internet shopping and home delivery services. The scheme involves clusters of local stores within a neighbourhood that will form local BeeBeep networks....
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Scotland: Botterills aims for £51m sales with new stores
The 31-strong Scottish Spar chain Botterills Convenience Stores aims to open four or five new stores in the next year, which should take annual sales to approximately £51m. Speaking at the company's awards dinner at the Crutherland Hotel, East...
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Symbol groups: Spar flexes MRG muscle
Spar has already negotiated "significantly better" day to day trading terms with top suppliers including Coke, Interbrew and Bass through its new buying consortium Multiple Retail Group, claims Keith Webb, proprietary trading director at Spar....