Spar claims Convenience Retailer of the Year title
Spar has won the global Convenience Retailer of the Year 2009 competition, which was awarded on last week in London.
The success of Spar with the recently opened Hongtu Store in Dongguan City, China is the first time that the prestigious international award has been won by a store in China. The admissions for the award consisted of entries from leading international and local retailers across 4 continents.
Spar’s Hongtu store has the emphasis on food-to-go items with a food island offering a number of unique product category concepts, including Treehouse, Kitsu and Italian Coffee. There is also a strong market atmosphere in the fresh area where customers are given the option of choosing pre-packed or loose produce. Fresh fish is sold from tanks, enabling customers to select their fish in a similar way to the traditional wet markets in China. As a result, the store presents an effective example of adapting to different global markets.
A partnership with small scale growers providing produce for the fresh section and the introduction of a number of community activities were some of the factors welcomed by award judges.
