Spar Italy partner Ergon has opened four new stores in Sicily over the past few weeks.
One of the four stores is a new Eurospar in the town of Erice (see image), on the northwestern tip of the island.
The store has enabled the revival of a closed-down neighbourhood supermarket, which had symbolic value for the local community, according to Spar. Staff at the former supermarket have been employed at the new store.
Sicilian Performance
Ergon recently announced a series of new store openings for 2018 and reported a strong business performance last year, at its annual convention in Catania.
“Despar is a large family that continues to grow in Sicily,” said Concetta Lo Magno, head of marketing at Ergon, highlighting the positive sales results that the Despar stores are enjoying in the region, having achieved considerable market share.
Despar said that its growth is due to its 'consistently high standards' and the focus it places on introducing new technologies.
Despar recently launched a digital app in Sicily, which has furthered customer loyalty by offering rewards to regular shoppers. The retailer has also expanded its growth through a larger selection of private label products.
Format Growth
The new store openings on the island have seen the growth of both the Eurospar and Despar supermarket formats, with many additional retail entrepreneurs keen to explore opportunities to become members of its growing network, according to Spar.
Ergon also opened an Interspar hypermarket in the Sicilian Fortezza di Modica shopping mall at the end of last year.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
