SPAR & SPAR TOPS GLENCAIRN HEIGHTS IS ********* AND NOT CONSUMER FRIENDLY

My wife and I are shocked. Spar and Spar Tops (Glencairn Heights branch, Simonstown, Cape Town which is owned by the same people) has been sold to new owners who took over a month or so ago. They removed ALL the tellers/cashiers chairs/stools and they are NOT allowed to sit. I asked the cashier at Spar Tops why they did not give her a chair to sit on... She said she doesn't know and has to stand 8 hours. We have confronted the new owner (Candice) regarding this and she was very non-committal. We asked if the cashiers were getting chairs and she said they were being fixed - this was 6 weeks ago... We know this was a lie as there is a chair/stool propped up in the Spar Tops which has had a crate put on top of it to stop anyone sitting on it. This is NOT acceptable and it can cause serious health implications for their staff. This also goes against the Occupational Health And Safety Act of 1993:

South Africa's Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993 requires that all employers, where reasonably practicable, must "provide an ergonomically sound seat for every employee whose work can be effectively performed while sitting". Workers whose jobs are usually performed while standing must be allowed to "take advantage of any opportunity for sitting which may occur, and for this purpose the employer shall provide seating facilities." All employers are required to "provide seats with backrests where the nature of work performed by the employees is such that such seats can be used."

Furthermore, the whole family & customer friendly atmosphere of the store has gone down and they have sky-rocketed the prices (e.g. price of Spar butter 500g and some of their desserts jumped up R20.00 or more as soon as the new owners took over). The old owner (Guy) was amazing and worked with, supported and ordered from local suppliers and vendors. He also sourced and negotiated prices to keep down the costs to the consumer. He and his wife were always friendly and helpful. Now it's just pre-packed GMO veggies etc and they can't even tell us if any of their products are ethically/responsibly sourced or helps local businesses. Now... No loose stuff that you can choose from and have weighed. It's now just another money-making machine selling overpriced items and the owners don't care about their staff or (ex) loyal customers. The vibe there is cold and a lot of the original friendly staff have left.

The only compliment we can give is that there is a little more variety in the non-fresh produce items (although these are expensive and would be more suited to a V&A waterfront store aimed at tourists).