Dutch food retailer Spar International has announced its plans to work alongside Indian Max Hypermarkets to have 30 stores operating in India by 2019.
The partnership comes just days after French retailer Auchan announced it would end its retail partnership in India, citing a lack of clarification on the future of FDI regulations by the newly elected government.
The five-year plan will see 13 of Max Hypermarkets and Auchan’s stores rebranded as Spar hypermarkets, and a further 20 stores opened across India. Retail sales are expected to exceed €300m (US$400.9m) by 2019, according to a joint press release.
“Our new partnership with Max Hypermarkets reaffirms the suitability of the Spar business model to the retail market in India,” said Spar managing director Gordon Campbell. “The Spar brand values and efforts of Max Hypermarkets have enabled us to develop a strong customer franchise and as a result, the Spar brand is well known and respected by consumers inIndia.
“Our previous presence in the market provides a strong foundation to grow the brand in the years ahead and we look forward to working closely with Max Hypermarkets to bring quality fresh foods, low price and a convenient shopping environment to consumers inIndia.'
Dutch food retailer Spar opened its first supermarket in India in 2008, when it first partnered with Max Hypermarket, before splitting ways with the Indian retailer in 2012.
