This article is about the convenience store. For the type of wood, see Spar.
SPAR is an international retail franchise comprising over 17,500 convenience stores in 34 operating regions. It was founded in Holland in 1932, and operated on a principal similar to co-operative stores elsewhere - retailers would group together to get bulk discounts from suppliers/wholesalers. In 1953 an International SPAR office was opened in Amsterdam to control and further develop this unique organisation throughout Europe and other continents.
Stores are more prevalent in Europe, but a few countries outside of Europe, such as South Africa, Australia, Mauritius and Argentina also have SPAR stores.
The name, which was originally DE SPAR, is an acronym of the initial letters of a Dutch phrase meaning "All will benefit from united co-operation". De spar in Dutch translates into English as fir tree, and hence a fir tree is the logo of SPAR. As the organisation expanded across Europe, the name was later abbreviated by dropping "DE", but the underlying meaning remains.
A store may be independently owned, a frachisee or a chain store depending on the model being applied in any given country. The owners of the parent company vary from country to country and may include the store owners themselves. The only common glue between the stores in different countries is the branding - the name and the current logo, which was designed in 1968, has been unchanged since.
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