SPAR
 |
|
| Public | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Products | Grocery stores, convenience stores, discount stores, hypermarkets and more |
| Revenue |
 €31.1 billion (2011) |
| Website | [2] |
Spar, trademarked as SPAR, is a Dutch multinational retail chain and franchise brand with approximately 12,500 stores in 35 countries worldwide. It was founded in 1932 by Adriaan van Well. Through its affiliate organisations, Spar operates through most European countries, parts of Africa, Asia and Oceania. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam.
The name was originally DE SPAR, an acronym of the Dutch phrase Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig (English: through united co-operation everyone regularly profits). The acronym was chosen in order to resonate with the verb "spar" or "spaar" which means "save [money]" in some languages, among them Dutch, German, Scandinavian and some dialects of Slovenian.De Spar also happens to be a Dutch word for "The spruce", hence Spar's logo.
As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was abbreviated by dropping the "DE" prefix. There are some international naming variants:
Spar was founded in 1932 in the South Holland town of Zegwaart (now Zoetermeer). In 1953 an International Spar office opened in Amsterdam to control and further develop the organisation throughout Europe and other continents. Most Spar stores are in Europe, but they can also be found in a few countries outside of Europe, such as Oman, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Australia,Mauritius, China, India, Japan, Vanuatu, Greenland and Angola.
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Wikipedia