Spar International is set to extend its reach in China to Hunan Province through a new partnership with local retail chain Hunan Jiahui Department Store Company, according to foodinternational.net.
Spar plans to convert the local chain’s stores to its own fascia and formats while rolling out a number of new outlets in Hunan Province.
The move into Hunan takes the Dutch-owned retailer’s presence in China to four provinces, the others being Hubei, Guangdong and Shanxi. Spar now expects to reach more than 400m consumers in China.
Spar only entered Shanxi Province last year, and since then it has opened a number of hypermarket and supermarket outlets. It plans to become the number one retailer in Shanxi after signing an agreement with the 10 largest independent retail operators in the province.
According to foodinternational.net, Spar’s hypermarket formats have “an open market feel”, with a focus on fresh food and competitive prices. Its supermarket outlets also cultivate the same “fresh focus” and feature many new Spar product categories.
Spar has made notable strides in China since entering the market in 2005. In 2008 alone, it doubled its retail sales area in the country to 300,000m2, and finished the year with 88 supermarket and hypermarket stores.
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