Spar International, the world’s largest voluntary retail chain, has presented global retail sales for the year ending December 31, 2014 of €31.9 billion, with sales driven by entry into 10 new territories. This includes five new countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe in addition to new regions in Russia and China.
The results were announced at the 60th International Spar Congress taking place in Vienna, Austria where the organisation also announced that, following 22 years of leading Spar International, Dr Gordon Campbell will step down as managing director at the end of the year.
Addressing the delegates, Dr Campbell said “2014 was a breakthrough year for Spar with entry into 5 new countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Our continued focus on growth in new markets while consolidating the strength of the brand in our more established, core markets continues to pay dividends. Spar now has a proven record of resonating with customers worldwide with the strength of our brand and offering, our global retail experience and our partnership model continuing to prove itself the brand of choice to potential partners across the world.”
In total, Spar entered 10 new territories in 2014, opening stores in Asia (Indonesia and India), Africa (Angola and Malawi), Eastern Europe (Georgia), as well as adding new partners in Russia and China.
Dr Campbell continued, “Our entry into Indonesia and India in 2014 has introduced Spar to two very dynamic emerging markets which, along with our presence in China and Japan, provide a very strong foundation for further growth in South East Asia into the future. Opening stores in Angola and Malawi, bringing Spar operations to ten sub-Saharan African countries, represented another milestone and is evidence of the significant potential for the brand across the continent.”
Looking to the future Dr Campbell commented “Spar is positioned for sustained expansion in 2015. The strong performance in core Spar countries such as Austria, South Africa and the United Kingdom combined with the impressive growth in retail sales in Russia and China, give confidence in the continued growth and expansion of the Spar business. Despite what remains a challenging operating environment for many of our partners we can be confident that the momentum will be maintained in 2015 and beyond.”
Dr Campbell, who has served as managing director of Spar International since 1994, has been responsible for the worldwide expansion of the organisation and the adaptation of best international practice in retail formats and supply chain implementation. Tobias Wasmuht, managing director Spar China and head of marketing and retail Spar International has been appointed to succeed Gordon Campbell as the next managing director of Spar International and will take up his position in January 2016.
