SPAR International has announced the brand’s entry into the Saudi Arabian retail market. Partnering with the well-established Saudi conglomerate, the Al Sadhan Group, SPAR has ambitious plans to open 40 stores in Saudi Arabia by 2020.
Three SPAR stores were opened in Riyadh, the nation’s capital and primary economic hub. Plans are in place to open a further five stores throughout 2018, bringing the total number of stores in the country to eight by the end of the year.
The first SPAR stores in the Saudi Arabian market will be aimed at the mid- to premium sector of the retail market. However, as the brand develops in the country, SPAR plans to launch stores in all economic sectors, providing all customers with competitive pricing for the best global and local products.
The Al Sadhan Group is a family owned business established in 1952. Its services include real estate, facilities management, food retail and brand development. Al Sadhan Stores operates the company’s retail arm employing 1,500 colleagues and has a long history in the market, being the first supermarket to obtain a business license in Riyadh in 1952. SPAR International began their partnership with Al Sadhan in 2016, soft launching the first SPAR store in the second half of 2017.
SPAR International has provided extensive support to Al Sadhan in the lead-up to the store openings including study tours to other SPAR markets and fostering awareness of the SPAR Way of Working. Support was also given in logistics development, supply chain creation and store design.
The stores will benefit from the access to globally and locally sourced SPAR Own Brand products, expertise in category management and the support from SPAR International’s design and development teams to ensure modern and dynamic store design.
SPAR International will also support SPAR Saudi Arabia to utilize the strengths of the joint buying model to ensure competitiveness.
The partnership with Al Sadhan in Saudi Arabia builds on SPAR International’s existing partnerships in the wider region, notably in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.
A grand opening ceremony took place in Riyadh, with ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the three high-quality SPAR Supermarkets. Thereafter, Tobias Wasmuht, SPAR International’s Managing Director, was joined by officials from the Netherlands embassy and senior management from Al Sadhan Group to celebrate the brand’s official debut in Saudi Arabia.