Archive of all Spar articles – Page 30

  • News

    row over margins will not go away

    2005-06-11T00:00:00Z

    from Kevin Hunt, MD of Spar retailer Lawrence Hunt & CoSir; With reference to last week’s feature on PayPoint, the row over margins to retailers will not go away until they reach a level that is acceptable to...

  • News

    Bigger Spar role for Hird

    2005-06-04T00:00:00Z

    Spar UK has promoted Tina Hird to the position of trading controller, after a restructure of the Spar trading department.The shake-up has combined the Spar brand and proprietary buying functions to provide an overall category approach. The...

  • News

    Newspapers are a weighty concern

    2005-05-28T00:00:00Z

    from Kevin Hunt, MD, Spar retailer Lawrence Hunt & CoSir; It has struck me that we are in a way a victim of our own success in newstrade, because the more papers you sell, the bigger the impact at stores on a Saturday and...

  • News

    Spar confident of recruits as two more Maces desert Somerfield

    2005-05-21T00:00:00Z

    Two more Mace retailers have defected from Somerfield to Spar in Scotland, fuelling speculation of a mass exodus.Stores at Glencoe, near Fort William, and at Inverness will join Spar after handing in their notice to Somerfield. And Spar...

  • News

    Spar goes for prime time

    2005-04-30T00:00:00Z

    Spar has signed a deal with outdoor advertising firm Primesight to create hundreds of media sites in front of stores to drive up sales of fmcg goods.Primesight, part of SMG, is surveying 1,500 stores to assess the viability of the six-sheet...

  • News

    Bill Capper hands over reins to Robert Upton

    2005-04-23T00:00:00Z

    Bill Capper, managing director of the family-owned Spar company Capper & Co, is to be succeeded by Robert Upton on May 1.Capper will move to the position of executive chairman. He has led the company, which operates the Spar franchise...

  • News

    Refurbished Silloth Spar ‘as good as it gets’

    2005-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Stan and Judith Foster have owned and run their store in Silloth, Cumbria for the past 25 years.
    The shop was originally a cinema, owned by Stan’s father, before he and his wife set up business there. Since then, there have been a few changes….

  • News

    A shortlist of excellence

    2005-04-16T00:00:00Z

    The shortlists for The Grocer Gold Awards 2005 have been announced. Upmarket frozen food chain Cook, the company-owned stores division of Spar wholesaler CJ Lang and northern chain Proudfoot have been shortlisted for best independent retail...

  • News

    Blackmore moves up to newly created Spar post

    2005-04-16T00:00:00Z

    Spar UK retail director Steve Blackmore has been appointed to the newly created post of supply chain and management information director as the group aims to improve cost effectiveness of supply.Blackmore’s move coincides with this month’s...

  • News

    Subway at Spar in UK

    2005-04-09T00:00:00Z

    US sandwich chain Subway is to roll out 400 concessions in convenience stores and multiple grocers in mainland UK in the next five years.The move follows a successful tie-in with Northern Irish symbol operator the Henderson Group, in which it...

  • News

    Spar drives non-food ranges into all stores

    2005-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Spar is to roll out non-food products across some 1,600 stores this summer in its first national push behind the higher-margin category.Advertising and promotions manager Simon Fisher said that the symbol group would initially look to stock...

  • News

    Corporate stretching

    2005-03-26T00:00:00Z

    Company secretary and director of Spar, Philip Marchant, has been appointed to the newly created role of corporate development director.Marchant has been at Spar for 24 years and is also company secretary to the Spar National Guild...

  • News

    RNS Holdings seeks new sites

    2005-01-29T00:00:00Z

    RNS Holdings has acquired two stores in the south and south west of England and is looking to expand further, by up to half a dozen new storesThe independent retailer, which has 12 convenience stores and small supermarkets under Spar and Nisa...

  • News

    Agnew becomes chairman of Spar’s National Guild

    2005-01-29T00:00:00Z

    Martin Agnew, managing director of the Henderson Group, has become chairman of Spar’s National Guild – the ultimate authority within Spar’s democratic guild system. Agnew heads a board that includes an equal number of retail and wholesaler...

  • News

    SPAR supermarket to open in India

    2005-01-12T08:33:00Z

    SPAR International has opened its first supermarket in India, which follows a recent move into China in November 2004.As the first international food retailer to enter the Indian market, having signed a license agreement to operate in the...

  • News

    The Saturday Essay

    2004-12-18T00:00:00Z

    >>retiring spar chairman morton middleditch wants to see a broad-based strongly competitive grocery sectorAs I come to the end of a career in the trade lasting only weeks short of 35 years, a number of people have asked me what...

  • News

    Keen eye on promotions

    2004-12-11T00:00:00Z

    Spar retailer and wholesaler for Scotland, CJ Lang, has made Safeway business development manager Sean Scrimger its promotions manager. Spar Scotland said the creation of this new role was to reflect the growing importance of promotional...

  • News

    Spar trials RFID

    2004-12-04T00:00:00Z

    Spar International will be monitoring the results of an RFID trial at Spar Austria early next year to gauge whether the technology could be applied successfully by other Spar members, including the UK.Spar Austria, which has a significant share...

  • News

    The Saturday Essay

    2004-11-20T00:00:00Z

    >>the dire consequences of decriminalising theft – francis chaney, finance director, Spar retailer Lawrence HuntYou have to look back at the 1960s to understand why this country is where it is today, with crimes that carry...

  • News

    Opinion

    2004-11-13T00:00:00Z

    >>Spar’s Use of retail flair and flexibility is key to achieving its goal>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVEDSpar’s annual conference in Cape Town last week was a fascinating affair. This was...