SPAR International to enter Mongolia
SPAR International is partnering with Max Group to open its first stores in Mongolia.
The partnership, which will see up to 60 SPAR branded multi-format stores launch in Mongolia by 2020, was made at an official signing ceremony which took place during the visit of the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.
Max Group is one of Mongolia’s leading retailers and operates the Max Food Supermarkets chain. The new partnership will see these stores transfer to the SPAR brand and the opening of new SPAR supermarkets from 2017 onwards.
The Netherlands based SPAR International reported global retail sales in 2015 of €33 billion from over 12,100 stores across four continents. The entry into Mongolia will bring the number of countries where SPAR operates to 43.
SPAR International managing director Tobias Wasmuht said: “We see Mongolia as a dynamic and rapidly developing consumer market with a growing demand for modern world class food retail.
“We are highly confident that we can build on our strong presence in the region by leveraging our scale with the SPAR operations in neighbouring Irkutsk, Russia and Inner Mongolia, China.
“This collaboration combined with our modern retail formats, supply chain and international sourcing as well as investing in the training and development in people locally will act as a significant support structure for the growth and development of SPAR in Mongolia.”
Established in the 1980s, Max Group is a family business operating in a range of sectors including supermarkets, fast food restaurants, department stores, real estate, precious metal mining, and dairy production.
