Spar Albania opens 30 stores in first year of business | Progresiv
One year after starting activities in Albania, grocery retailer Spar now operates more than 30 stores in nine cities of the Balkan country. Spar Albania offers an assortment of around 40,000 items, has an estimated 30,000 customers per day, and employs around 500 people. 
According to Spar Albania CEO Elona Mema, the retail business still accounts for only 15% of the food market in Albania, which is still in the early stages of development.
She pointed out that the major problem lies in informal trade and competition. However, as with other countries of the region, she expects that over the next five years there will be a rapid transition of the food market to the modern retail segment.
The Interspar hypermarkets and Spar supermarkets in Albania offer a selection of 3,000 Spar private label products, under the Spar and Despar brands. A loyalty card scheme has also been introduced and now has a customer base of 100,000 shoppers.
Mema announced that the retailer will soon introduce a policy that if customers find the same product cheaper in another store, Spar will reimburse them. This will guarantee that Spar offers the best prices in the market.
Under the Spar Franchise partnership program, some 15 stores have been opened in cities such as Shkodra, Vlora, Gjirokastra, Saranda, Pogradec, Korca and soon in Lezha.
The development plan for 2018 foresees the opening of at least 20 new stores, of which ten will be under direct management and ten under the partnership model.
They will be opened in Durres, Shkodra, Elbasan, Fier and Vlora, in both the hypermarket and supermarket formats. In addition, Spar Albania plans to introduce a range of new products and services. (www.esmmagazine.com)
