Spar gets foothold in central Athens
Afoi Vassilopouloi, one of the oldest delicatessens in Athens, has joined the Spar family as the multinational proceeds with its penetration of the Greek retail market.
The 110-year-old enterprise in Klafthmonos Square has decided to cooperate with the Dutch chain – which is active in Greece via its local subsidiary Spar Hellas – and besides its multiple products also sells Spar-branded goods, from coffee and olives to washing detergents.
The deli founded in 1907 operated on Stadiou Street until 2012, but after the store was burnt during an anti-austerity rally that year it moved around the corner, to 3 Paparrigopoulou Street, where it is currently flourishing.
At the same time, the expansion of Spar Hellas is continuing through cooperations with small regional chains around the country, with an emphasis placed primarily on tourism destinations.
Within 2019, Spar intends to open 80 new stores in Greece. It already has shops in Attica, Thessaly, Crete, the Sporades islands in the northern Aegean, and the Ionian islands. From early 2019 it will start operating six more outlets in the capital, two in the Peloponnese and one in central Greece. On Zakynthos, seven Express Market stores will gradually evolve into Spar outlets.
