Retail news. Semester 1 of 2014 table of contents

Express Stores, Power Sales to rebrand

November 25, 2011 Business

is set to be renamed PEP, another low end chain in South Africa.

Middle market Express Stores, part of the Edgars group, will rebrand to Jet.
An official at Power Sales confirmed plans for the re-branding adding that this was going to be done in stages.
“Yes we are considering changing the name of our shops to PEP though this process will take some time as we will start with a few branches and if the response is pleasing, we will then change all the branches,” she said.
She said there won’t be any major changes in terms of their range of products as their products were similar to those that were being sold by their sister company PEP.

“This is just a marketing strategy and I can say at the moment it is still experimental so if the outcome is unfavourable, we will quit the re-branding plan.

“As you know people can be resistant to change so the success of this whole venture is totally in the hands of the customers because at the end of the             day they are the centre of attraction,” she said.
The official said Power Sales was going to come up with new promotions and an improved store layout to support the re-branding.
Power Sales is known for selling a wide range of products from women’s wear, kids wear, men’s wear, stationery and toys among other things.
Efforts to get a comment from senior management were fruitless as they were committed to other duties.

Meanwhile, Edgars Stores Limited said two of its subsidiaries — Express and Express Mart Stores — will in the next few months rebrand to Jet to service customers’ changing needs.

Jet is a leading South African clothing and footwear retail chain.
Edgars group managing director Ms Linda Masterson said the rebranding exercise was a Zimbabwean initiative.
“This rebranding of Express to Jet has nothing at all to do with South Africa. It is a Zimbabwean initiative.
“We have rebranded our stores to Jet in order to supply our customers changing needs and to give them more style for less price.

“We source our merchandise for Jet Stores from both our loyal Zimbabwean manufacturers and from suppliers in other Sadc countries,” she said in a written response to questions from Business Chronicle.

She said their South African counterpart had given them sole permission to use the Jet brand and to buy Jet branded merchandise from their suppliers.
“Nobody else in Zimbabwe has permission to use the Jet brand or sell products which have Jet owned labels such as Network, Massumi, Enzo, Jet Kids, and many others.
“This will allow us to better service our customers’ changing needs.

“This process will take place over the next few months as we introduce the new Jet brands and concepts to our customers and roll out the change to all stores countrywide.

“We will introduce focused merchandise assortments that cater for our customers’ different lifestyles, offering a wider variety of product at even better prices, providing more style for fewer prices,” she said.
She said they have already been testing the new brands.

“Already the response to the new brands that we have been testing in all Express and Express Mart stores has been excellent. We will continue             phasing out our old brands and labels to make             way for the new, providing our valued customers with continuity on wanted product lines while improving the assortments our customers are voting for.”-The Chronicle

Shoprite Checkers hits 1000th store milestone. 29 Nov 2013

With yesterday's opening of the Checkers Zevenwacht, located in the Shoprite Checkers' newly developed shopping centre, Langverwacht Plein, in Kuils River, the group celebrated reaching the 1000 mark in Africa.

This supermarket is one of the 129 new supermarkets that the group will open across Africa between July 2013 and June 2014, 20 of which will be outside of South Africa's borders.

Commenting on this significant milestone, Shoprite Group CEO, Whitey Basson said that it is fitting for the 1000th supermarket in the group to be branded Checkers, since he regards the acquisition of the ailing Checkers chain of 170 supermarkets in 1991 to be one of the biggest challenges in his career in retail that spans four decades.

Acquisition trail proves successful over three decades

"The eight Shoprite supermarkets we purchased during November 1979 were only the start of the development of what today is the largest supermarket chain in South Africa and the African continent. We realised that to fast track the group's growth trajectory, we had to embark on a series of acquisitions and turn those businesses into profitability fast. We also wanted to be the supermarket group with the lowest prices in the country.

"This strategy has paid off for us. It placed us at the forefront of supermarket retailing in Africa and in a business with over 1460 outlets on the continent consisting of supermarket brands serving consumers across all income groups, furniture stores, liquor stores and a growing fast food chain."

Accolades mark success

Thirty-four years after that first acquisition, the Shoprite group is receiving one accolade after another. Recently its flagship brand, Shoprite has once again been honoured in the Times / Sowetan Retail Awards with the Grand Prix award as top retailer overall in South Africa for the fifth consecutive year. The chain also claimed the award for providing the best Overall Customer Experience.

According to the latest AMPS research (July 2013) 70% of adults in the country now shop at Shoprite Checkers, serving the largest customer base in South Africa with 26 million shoppers.

With the provision of opportunities for people to make something out of their lives and create a future for their children being close to his heart, Basson also commented on the scale of jobs that the group has created.

"We built a company with a turnover of R93 billion and a market capitalisation of R100 billion. However, what is more gratifying is that we were able to save the jobs of thousands of people in those companies we took over and create so many more opportunities for people to earn a living and in turn provide a future for generations after them.

Record job opportunities

"During the last financial year (to June 2013) the group created a record number of new job opportunities in one year; 9201 and today it employs more than 114,000 people in total. Checkers Zevenwacht has seen some 190 new job opportunities created," he concluded.

Langverwacht Plein is the group's own property development and will also be home to the planned 209th liquor shop in the group.