The Finnish Spar retail chain is to close 29 stores in connection with its buyout by the SOK Corporation. The move will lead to the elimination of 217 jobs. Originally, there were fears that up to 600 former Spar employees would have to go.
Most of those losing their jobs are store employees: only seven work at the corporate heaequarters of Spar Finland.
The number of redundancies was diminished because work was found for a large proportion of the Spar personnel at regional cooperative stores run by SOK.
Most of the older personnel are expected to take retirement.
Jussi Vouti, CEO of Spar Finland, is pleased with the result of negotiations with personnel, which led to a sharp reduction in the number of people to be let go.
He also hopes that buyers might still be found for some of the stores, whose personnel were given notice on Monday; negotiations for the sale of the units are continuing.
SOK bought out Spar Finland last autumn. About 100 of the 280 Spar stores are run by the company itself, while the rest are managed by independent owners.
SOK said that it would take those Spar stores which will remain open, into its chain of regional cooperative stores.
Some of the former Spar store owners have joined together to set up a new "M-Group" of retailers, comprising about 30 shops.
The Finnish Competition Authority set as a condition of its approval of the buyout that SOK relinquish ownership of stores in 28 communities. The aim of the requirement was to secure competition in a field in which ownership is becoming increasingly narrow.
Shopkeepers operating in premises that they rent from Spar have appealed to the Market Court for a moratorium on the implementation of the deal. Statements in the case are to be submitted to the court by April 7th.
