ADDRESSING players in the property industry at a development roadshow recently, Bill Brown, MD of Spar Western Cape, unveiled bold initiatives to grow market share and the Spar brand, particularly on the Peninsula.

He appealed to developers, brokers and planners alike to embrace this initiative and become part of a plan to have 50 new stores up and running on the Peninsula in the next four years. 'Let's form a winning team, and grow together with innovation and excitement.'

He was backed strongly by Conway Nesbitt, Retail Operations Director of Spar Western Cape, who, after sketching an overview of the three development opportunities (Kwikspar, Spar and Superspar), urged them to work closely with Spar on the development side.

'We'll find the retailers, if you can find us the sites. If there are opportunities, give us a shout, we want to be part of the action,' said Nesbitt.

Brian Beavon, Chairman the Spar Guild Of Southern Africa, in a 'whistle stop tour' of the Spar Group, sketched marketing trends both on the local and international scene. Beavon said that Spar in South Africa is influenced by the Group's strong presence overseas (the Group operates in 30 countries with over 17 000 stores). 'This puts us ahead of our competition in terms of trends overseas and is key to our growth,' said Beavon.

Beavon laid out the Group's focus on 'new generation stores'. Major emphasis will be placed on store image and standards. There are also major drives to remodel, upgrade and extend existing stores. Beavon said that the Spar Group's strength lay in the fact that it can target any kind of market from convenience right through to the large stores. 'We can style a store according to what is needed by the customers in the type of target market.'

He went on to say that the launch of the Superspar stores, with their corporate flagship store due to launch in September this year in the new Gateway Centre, Umhlanga, Kwazulu-Natal, is taking the Group to new heights. 'This corporate store says who we are and where we are going.'

The conclusive message was that the Spar Group - with its owner-run stores which operate within a community (strong focus on entrepreneurship) - is set to grow market share and to become the respected brand in South Africa.