Spar owner proposes opening 100 stores

The operator of the Spar and Mace shops today announced a plan to open 100 shops within the next three years.

THE BWG Group said that Spar aims to have 500 outlets by 2006 while creating 1,000 jobs. Spar currently has over 7,500 full-time and part-time employees in the Republic.

The move represents an accelerating of the group's development, which normally aims to open 25 Spar stores and 10 Mace stores per year. The target of opening 100 new shops starts from today. Sixteen Spar outlets have been opened in the first five months of 2003.

At its AGM in Dublin today BWG confirmed €200 million would be invested by the company and its franchisees in refurbishing and modernising its existing outlets over the next three years.

The company has targeted an increase in retail sales of 48 per cent over the same period and projects total sales should reach €1 billion by 2006.

Last November BWG filed annual returns showing a 14 per cent increase in turnover to €685.4 million.

Pre-tax profits in the 12-month period to November 2002 rose by nearly 20 per cent to €18.3 million. After tax profits were up 27 per cent.