Max Hypermarket India Private Limited, as part of its new partnership agreement with SPAR International, today unveiled its five rebranded SPAR stores in Bengaluru. The companies had announced earlier in the year, the signing of a new agreement to to revive the SPAR brand in India.
The new agreement will result in 16 Auchan stores in India converting to the Spar brand and a further 20 stores opening nationwide over the next five years. This is the second time that the two firms are partnering with each other. They had earlier tied up in 2007, but the arrangement broke down 2012 due to differences in ambitions for the Indian market.
Subsequently, Max and French retailer Groupe Auchan SA entered into a licensing agreement in August 2012 under which the former would operate the Auchan Hypermarket chain in India. The two companies had plans to move towards creating a joint venture to facilitate Groupe Auchan investment in India, which could comply with Indian FDI regulations.
Earlier this year, however, Max Hypermarket announced it was parting ways with Auchan on account of the difficulty in complying with India’s FDI rules and strategic differences between the partners.
“Despite their best efforts, the parties could not facilitate this proposition,” Max Hypermarket said in a statement in August 2014. “Therefore, by common agreement, the 13 Max Hypermarkets will no longer operate under the Auchan banner by January 2015 at the latest.”
The new SPAR hypermarkets offer a unique and powerful value package which includes a year round “all below MRP” pricing strategy for its wide food and grocery assortments coupled with a strong and continuous “Best Deal” promotion calendar across all fresh food and groceries, home and kitchen needs, small appliances and bakery categories, as well as the benefits of “The Inner Circle” group loyalty program.
SPAR International is the world’s largest food store retailer with over 12,000 stores worldwide and global retail sales of €32.2 billion in 2013.
Elaborating on the launch of the re-branded SPAR stores in India, Viney Singh, Managing Director, Max Hypermarket said,”By the end of 2014, 16 of our existing stores across nine cities, measuring approximately one million square feet of retail space, will be re-branded and refurbished as per the international SPAR format.”
“Rapid re-development and re-branding of the hypermarkets as SPAR is possible because of the strong, coordinated efforts of Max Hypermarkets and SPAR International. This is a critical factor for success in the uniquely complex Indian market,” said Dr. G R Campbell, Managing Director, SPAR International.
The freshness concept is the other main priority for the brand and consumers will experience the difference in the quality of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry and fish as well as bakery products and staples. Overall, customers can look forward to an enhanced shopping experience at lower prices.
Max Hypermarket India Private Limited was incorporated in 2004. The company currently operates 16 hypermarkets across India. Max Hypermarket is also the winner of the Coca-Cola Golden Spoon Award for the Most Admired Food & Grocery Retailer of the Year in India – Large Formats, for three successive years (2011, 2012 & 2013).
