Spar India has opened its 18th store as the grocery franchise continues its rollout.

The latest store is located in Hyderabad’s Paradise Mall, which is owned by Spar India’s licensee Max Hypermarkets. Located in Nacharam, it is the fourth store in the Hyderabad area. Spar India now boasts stores in nine cities in seven states.

The newly built hypermarket has a retail selling area of 5400 sqm, offering a diverse range of fresh foods from the fish, bakery, delicatessen and Food-to-Go service departments and an extensive non-food offer, including a Home & Living department.

Thanks to sustained publicity campaign prior to the opening, more than 1000 transactions were processed between 4.30pm and 10pm on the first day of trading.

Spar India says it will continue to focus on its in-store range, expanding its own-brand products, which currently account for approximately 10 per cent of store turnover. Spar India MD Rajeev Krishnan says the group intends to expand its footprint by 30 per cent during the next 12-18 months.

The Spar India licence was granted to Max by Spar International in 2014.