Following the launch of SPAR in Georgia in October 2014, the conversion of existing stores and the opening of new stores has continued at a steady rate.

Recently, two more SPAR stores in Georgia were launched: one in Gldani, a suburb of the capital Tbilisi and the other in Kutaisi, the second largest city after Tbilisi.

SPAR Gldani was a conversion of an existing store and has a selling area of 119m2, while SPAR Kutaisi is a new build with a selling area of 190m2. Both stores have taken on the SPAR Neighbourhood format. Their key departments include Food-to-Go, Fruit & Veg, Dairy and Bakery.

SPAR International provided support in the development of both stores – guiding SPAR Georgia on instore layout, communications and product assortment – helping to create attractive and easy to navigate stores.

SPAR’s Partner in Georgia is Foodmart. The intention is to convert Foodmart’s existing portfolio of 51 stores to SPAR. The rapid conversion to SPAR that has taken place so far has been positively received by customers. The public has been enthusiastic about the good fresh food offerings and the large range of Private Label products.

SPAR stores that are converted from other brands show immediate increases in turnover, reflecting customers’ enthusiasm for the convenience offer. After trading for a period of twelve months, it’s evident that stores continue to show increases in turnover as consumers become more aware of the SPAR Brand. Turnover increases vary depending on location, size and customer base but the most dramatic was an increase of over 60% in the first six months.