SPAR-museum, Retail history museum in Leiderdorp, Netherlands.
This museum occupies a former SPAR store and displays historical retail equipment such as scales, cash registers, and product displays from different eras. The space is arranged to recreate how a functioning shop looked and operated, giving visitors a direct sense of past shopping practices.
The building housed one of the world's first SPAR stores starting in 1936, originally operating as a counter-service shop where staff handled transactions. The transition to self-service format later reflected how retail fundamentally changed shoppers' behavior and store design.
Scale models throughout the space recreate the Hoofdstraat as it looked across different periods, showing how local shops shaped the street's character over time. Visitors can see how retail transformed the appearance and use of this neighborhood street.
A working candy shop inside operates with vintage scales where visitors can purchase and weigh sweets packaged in paper cones. Most visitors spend about an hour exploring the displays while sampling treats.
Wall panels display SPAR's organizational story through photographs of store buildings, delivery trucks, products, and packaging evolution across decades. These visual archives show how a retail business grew and adapted through major changes in commerce.
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