The Spar brand has now disappeared from the Czech Republic, as Ahold completed the transformation of 49 loss-making Spar and Interspar stores into Albert supermarkets.
Ahold announced the acquisition of Spar stores a year ago, as part of the company's strategy to expand its geographic reach in both its current and adjacent markets, and focus on leading market positions.
Albert finished rebranding the last Interspar store last week. This marked the end of an eight-month project in which it rebranded and converted 14 Spar supermarkets and 35 Interspar compact hypers to Albert.
The Czech Antitrust authority approved the transaction last year on the condition that Ahold will sell five stores, news agency ČTK reported.
With the additional stores, Albert is also expanding cooperation with regional suppliers.
During the last phase of the integration -- the rebranding of the compact hypers – integration teams made a focused effort to keep the best of both brands. “We have made only minor changes in the stores, as they were well-appreciated and loved by customers. So customers will see all the main attributes as before, but now with lower prices,” said Albert general manager Jesper Lauridsen in a press release.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by László Juhász.
