Continuing its 2019 expansion drive, SPAR Zimbabwe has opened a new store in the country’s second-largest city located in the south of the country, Bulawayo – it’s 37th overall.

The new store, SPAR JN Bulawayo, is located on one of the city’s busiest roads in the central business district – across from a busy bus stop. As such, it attracts customers on the go, in search of quick convenience and snack/drink solutions, as well as basic key-value commodities and grocery items. The destination departments are Bakery, Butchery, Food-to-Go, Fresh and Chilled.

The store was officially opened to the cheer of a marching band. There were also supplier demos & giveaways, a roadshow truck, live radio broadcasts, instore competitions, and special opening day deals.

Reaction from the local community has been very positive with the customer count rising to over 6,000 per day within the first four days of trading.

Customers are happy with the modern, clean layout of the store in an area where most shops are looking quite run-down. They have also been complimentary of the product range and pricing, particularly in terms of key-value items, Bakery and Food-to-Go.

The opening of SPAR JN Bulawayo has led to the creation of 75 jobs, 95% of which were sourced locally as knowledge of the local language, Ndebele, is essential in Bulawayo.

The staff was all trained as a group over two months at a SPAR store in Harare. This training has had a noticeable impact on their teamwork and customer service, which they provide with passion and expertise.

In spite of economic difficulties in the country, SPAR Zimbabwe continues to grow and is committed to an aggressive expansion plan over the next five years. Over the past 12 months, the SPAR Zimbabwe family has grown to include one new SPAR supermarket, two SPAR Express outlets, the SPAR Online Shopping platform, and new-concept quick service outlets.