Spar (retailer)

SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR (də ˈspɑr), is a Dutch multinational franchise that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, and consists of 13,623 stores in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam. The company operates a partnership programme and has a presence in most European countries, as well as many others throughout Asia, Africa and Oceania. In fiscal year 2021, SPAR earned €41.2 billion in global sales, which represented a 3.3 percent increase over the previous year. The name was originally DESPAR, an acronym of the Dutch phrase Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig ("Through united co-operation everyone regularly profits"), which was used by Van Well to describe the brand. The acronym was chosen to resonate with the verb sparen, which (related to English spare) means "save [money]" in Dutch and some other languages, among them German and Scandinavian languages (with variants such as spara or spare). Spar is Dutch for "spruce tree", after which the logo was chosen. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was abbreviated by dropping the DE prefix. There are some international naming variants: In Hungary, 17 stores owned by SPAR located at Lukoil filling stations operate under the name DESPAR. However, there are also many SPAR and INTERSPAR locations. In Italy, the name is still DESPAR, though in keeping with the international branding, the SPAR section of the logo is highlighted, and the larger shops are still called EuroSPAR and InterSPAR. In Austria, DESPAR is SPAR's Italian food product range. There are also INTERSPAR locations within Austria. In Croatia, SPAR and INTERSPAR locations run concurrently. In Arabia, the Latin letters SPAR are displayed next to the Arabic سبار (). In Iran, it is called اسپار (Aspar). In China, it is known as 斯巴超市 (, "Siba supermarket").