Spar and Eurospar have recently announced plans to add 60 new stores to their combined network by 2025, culminating in a €65 million investment from BWG Foods, along with independent Spar and Eurospar retailers.
This expansion will bring the total number of stores across the combined network to 525 nationwide.
BWG Foods noted that it has already identified a number of potential greenfield and brownfield sites and will be focusing on the emergence of new communities in the vicinity of Ireland’s major cities, on the back of new housing developments.
The new sites will have the potential to create over 1,100 new jobs, the company added.
Commenting on the announcement, Leo Crawford, group chief executive, BWG Group, said, “We are very confident about the opportunities for future growth and look forward to supporting our retailers to further develop and expand their businesses over the coming years.
“Changing consumer behaviours are transforming the retail landscape, and we will be ensuring that our Spar and Eurospar stores respond with innovative solutions to meet the needs of the more than one million customers who visit our stores every day.”
Upgrades
According to BWG Foods, in addition to new-store openings, Spar and Eurospar have plans to upgrade over 100 existing sites nationwide, including the roll-out of an innovative store design for the Eurospar supermarket format, which will pioneer a number of new carbon reduction features, including the latest refrigeration technologies, solar panel installations, and recycled fixings.
The new design and supporting features were designed by the BWG Foods team in conjunction with its global partners in Spar International.
Expansion Plans
Spar and Eurospar’s new expansion plans come on the back of very strong growth for the combined retail network in 2022, with sales increasing to over €1.6 billion therein – representing growth of 4.5% on the previous year – as grocery sales began to normalise, post-Covid.
Notably, trading across city centre and business park stores continued to recover throughout 2022.
Performance Uplifts On 2022
This January and February have seen further performance uplifts on 2022, with Spar and Eurospar now targeting retail sales of €1.67 billion in 2023, accounting for a forecast increase in consumer spend and the contribution of new stores that are projected to come on stream during the period, the company noted.
The new-store and future growth ambitions were announced at the Spar and Eurospar Retailer Convention in Killarney, which was attended by more than 300 retailers from across the country.
© 2023 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
