Spar has struck a £150m deal with Bourne Leisure, the biggest British holidays provider, to supply its 46 c-stores in holiday parks.
Of these, 42 c-stores in Butlins and Haven parks have been converted to the Spar fascia, with the other four being run under other brands owned by Bourne, but supplied by Spar.
The stores had been supplied by Musgrave Retail Partners GB, and most traded under the Londis fascia.Bourne had been working with Musgrave for the past 13 years, but put the contract out to tender during the winter when their agreement expired.
It is estimated that the new contract, which began earlier this year, will be worth £150m in retail sales over the next five years.
"Bourne chose Spar because of the strength of its brand, and its retail values were in line with our own," said Bourne operations director Mark Harper.
In the recent half-term week, the stores had shown like-for-like sales growth of 10% compared with the same period the previous year. They had also attracted an improvement in customer feedback since their conversion to Spar, he added. The stores, which are 1,200 sq ft in size on average, are similar to high street Spar stores, although Spar had sourced new lines, including 26-bag packs of Walkers crisps that retail at £2.50, and about a quarter of the space is devoted to 'gifting' items, such as buckets and spades. Spar had also stumped up some of the money for rebranding.
Although the deal was agreed by Spar's head office, the stores will be supplied by Spar's five wholesalers on the British mainland, which will offer local lines in addition to those provided nationally.
There are already several independent Spar retailers in holiday parks, but this is the first multi-site deal.
"The Spar brand is already working very well in Bourne's sites this is certainly a new path to growth for us and we would consider opening other sites on holiday parks as long as it didn't clash with any of our existing customers," said Spar retail director Richard Bennett.
Of these, 42 c-stores in Butlins and Haven parks have been converted to the Spar fascia, with the other four being run under other brands owned by Bourne, but supplied by Spar.
The stores had been supplied by Musgrave Retail Partners GB, and most traded under the Londis fascia.Bourne had been working with Musgrave for the past 13 years, but put the contract out to tender during the winter when their agreement expired.
It is estimated that the new contract, which began earlier this year, will be worth £150m in retail sales over the next five years.
"Bourne chose Spar because of the strength of its brand, and its retail values were in line with our own," said Bourne operations director Mark Harper.
In the recent half-term week, the stores had shown like-for-like sales growth of 10% compared with the same period the previous year. They had also attracted an improvement in customer feedback since their conversion to Spar, he added. The stores, which are 1,200 sq ft in size on average, are similar to high street Spar stores, although Spar had sourced new lines, including 26-bag packs of Walkers crisps that retail at £2.50, and about a quarter of the space is devoted to 'gifting' items, such as buckets and spades. Spar had also stumped up some of the money for rebranding.
Although the deal was agreed by Spar's head office, the stores will be supplied by Spar's five wholesalers on the British mainland, which will offer local lines in addition to those provided nationally.
There are already several independent Spar retailers in holiday parks, but this is the first multi-site deal.
"The Spar brand is already working very well in Bourne's sites this is certainly a new path to growth for us and we would consider opening other sites on holiday parks as long as it didn't clash with any of our existing customers," said Spar retail director Richard Bennett.
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