Spar Slovenia has seen a 2.4% growth in 2016 revenue to €743 million, despite an overall drop in grocery store sales last year.
The general manager of Spar Slovenia, Igor Mervič, said he was very satisfied with the results as they were achieved in a “hostile environment”, reports local news agency Sta.
According to Mervič, the Slovenian government has yet to remove the bureaucratic obstacles it promised when taking office. He said that the barriers still remain and that the existing legislation makes it practically “impossible” to do business in Slovenia, adding that Spar is not an isolated case.
Mervič had criticised in the past the lengthy procedures for obtaining building permits, noting at the time that "investing in Slovenia is an enormous problem, because there is always someone who complains".
New Stores And Future Plans
The retailer opened two new supermarkets and eight franchise stores last year. This takes total number of stores to 99, of which ten are franchised. This year, Spar Slovenia will open store number 100.
The general manager also expressed hope that construction work would start on the €100 million Šiška Shopping Mall for which it has yet to receive a final building permit. The venue will also include a mid-sized Interspar store.
Mervič claimed that Spar can be considered a "local retailer" as the share of Slovenian products it stocks is approaching 70%. According to him, Spar aims to be number one in terms of fresh produce in the country, with a growing emphasis on organic and vegan products, including private label brands.
Spar Slovenia remains reticent about online shopping which it sees as “generally loss-making”, but nevertheless it plans to launch an online store at some time in the future.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
