“Spinneys, value you can…..trust.” Spinneys’ 14 branches scattered around Lebanon have become the go-to address for buying local goods, groceries, household items, and imported products from European brands like Tesco, Netto, Casino and others.
But much to our surprise, Spinneys has a fair share of historical baggage that we didn’t quite expect or really know about. Allow us to take you on a trip down the aisle of exactly how Spinneys became the conglomerate it is today.
Spinneys in the Old Beirut Souks
It all started back in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt. Founder Arthur Rawdon Spinney wasn’t just a regular man with an entrepreneurial spirit, he was part of the Order Of The British Empire and worked in the provision department of the Palestine Railways. He established the first cross-desert bus service between Damascus and Baghdad following the First World War.
He established the very first Spinneys supermarket in Jaffa, where it was the only company that sold British products to the British people living in Palestine. So basically, the spot where you currently get your favorite Netto granola bars started out as headquarters to sell imported English goods to colonial British powers living in Mandate Palestine and Syria.
Spinney’s Mineral Water Factory Acre, 1941
Interestingly enough, the founder, Arthur Rawdon Spinney was involved with the Palestine Commissioner landing himself the posts of a trustee for Haifa early in the Second World War, the Hungarian Consul General in Palestine, and the president of the Haifa Rotary Club.
This quickly resulted in Spinneys branches being scattered around the major regional cities frequented by British subjects: Alexandria, Cairo, Haifa, Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus.
With the events of the Arab Revolt in 1936-1939, railway services that Spinneys greatly depended on for imports were interrupted, which led the market to move its Haifa branch to Baghdad. In the 60s, Arthur Spinney retired from active participation.
With the July 14 revolution, the supermarket chain moved its Baghdad store to Dubai in 1961. Years later, stores opened across the Gulf and the first Beirut store opened in 1967.
As of 2006, Michael Wright heads up the Spinneys Group Limited as CEO in the Middle East.
What started out as a supermarket serving colonial powers in Mandate Palestine has grown to become a premium supermarket retailer, after following an “aggressive expansion” programme across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region.
We’re not going to lie. This shook us up a little.
