Retail news. Semester 1 of 2014 table of contents

New mall for Jouberton, NW province

14 Mar 2012

Jouberton, which adjoins Klerksdorp, a major North West province mining area, will see the Goldfields Mall open in the second quarter of 2013. Construction begins in May 2012 on the new 15 000 sqm shopping centre at the intersection of the N12 and Jabulani Street. The new shopping centre will be the first modern shopping centre in Jouberton and will include 500 parking bays. The Southern Taxi Council, as the umbrella body representing the local taxi associations, has purpose-designed the fully-fledged taxi facility for 30 taxis and has lent its support to this project.

Rob Terry, development manager for Landmark Real Estate, property developers of the new shopping centre, says more and more retailers with vision are offering their brands in South Africa's townships. "Combined with the adjacent suburbs of Manzil Park and Alabama, the historically black township of Jouberton has the highest density of residents in the region. The reasons for this trend toward township retail development are self-evident and revolve mainly around expediency and price.

"For its 200 000 residents, the new shopping centre will eliminate the need for a 25 km round trip to Klerksdorp by taxi in order to purchase necessities, a few luxuries or enjoy a meal out. This will be a modern and attractive mall with landscape features and amenities that will provide the area with a central hub, not only for shopping but also as a social meeting place - something which is entirely lacking outside the churches and schools in the area."

Multiple retail investments in area

Terry says that in recent months there have been a number of major retail investment announcements in such previously disadvantaged areas by companies such as Old Mutual, Vukile, Advent Asset Management, Dipula and the PIC (Public Investment Corporation), among others, indicating investor confidence in this important retail sector.

"Retailers active in this arena are reporting significantly higher growth compared with so-called traditional retailing nodes. Fortress Property Fund, which has good exposure to low income commuter-type retail centres, recently reported impressive growth of 10 percent in distributions over the previous year, clearly confirming this higher performance," he says.

House price reports by FNB in recent years add further weight to the indication of increasing stability and growth in these areas, with the average urban township home now worth over R250 000 and growing at in excess of 10% per annum. This outperforms the just 3.8% average growth in house prices in the six major metro regions as a whole.

Letting forges ahead

"Currently the centre is approximately 85% pre-let to national tenants. Shoprite is the anchor tenant trading from a 3 500 sqm store, complemented by Hyper Butchery and Nizams. Meanwhile PEP and Jet will head up the fashion offering and Cashbuild, the DIY component. Eateries include KFC, Traditional Fish 'n Chips and several other national franchises, while furniture outlets include OK Furniture, Lewis and Fairprice. A Post Office branch enhances the service mix. Because of its size and expansion potential, this centre should remain the dominant retail offering in the area for the foreseeable future," concludes Terry.

Landmark's executive director, Lionel Kisten, adds, "It is noteworthy that there is commitment in the centre from the national fashion sector beyond Jet and PEP. It seems that astute retailers have recognised that fashion should be offered at the brand conscious consumers' doorstep. PEP pioneered fashion retail in black townships, a factor that contributed to its success as South Africa's largest fashion outlet. In recent years, Jet has followed a similar strategy and is a serious player in this market. It's encouraging to now see other retailers recognising the business potential offered in these areas."

To date banking services in the new centre are to be provided by FNB Easy-Bank and Standard Bank and Landmark reports that negotiations are ongoing with the other banks.

New food-labelling law 'will deprive consumers'

15 Oct 2012 15:40Submit a commentBizLike

Experts say consumers could lose out on valuable product information because food labelling legislation has made the publication of nutritional information on packaging much more complex and costly. To print a nutrition table with a breakdown of how much fat, salt or carbohydrates are in the food, manufacturers now have to do intensive and costly testing of the food every three years.

Previously, manufacturers would estimate the nutritional data from the ingredients. They are now forbidden to do this. So, since offering nutritional information is voluntary, many will simply remove it from their labels.

Nicky Edwards, product developer for Ina Paarman Foods, explained the process: "Nutritional information in the absence of a product claim is not required.

"The reality is that many manufacturers will simply no longer include nutritional information on their product labels because of the cost and renewal every 36 months, which is ultimately to the disadvantage of the consumer."

Food consultant Norah-Ann Hayes agreed.

"The drawback of requiring testing for many products is that companies are not going to declare the nutrition information, especially smaller manufacturers.

"In addition to the lab testing, this needs to be done every three years, so the cost is not a once-off."

But Hayes said the law was necessary. "This is unfortunate but the previous method of calculating nutritional information was not accurate." Hayes said consumers who wanted to know how healthy the product was and the quantities of sugar, salt and carbohydrates could check the ingredients list.

"If fat or sugar are near the top of the ingredients list it is going to be a high-kilojoule product. If salt is high up it is going to be a high-sodium product."

Under the food labelling law, products cannot contain the word "natural". This means that products that use natural flavours instead of synthetics cannot indicate this to the consumer on the packaging.
Source: The Times