Foschini: Four stores planned for Ghana this year

The Foschini Group was expanding its west African presence and had plans to enter Ghana with four stores by the end of this year, the clothing retailer’s financial director said yesterday. Last year Foschini broke into the region by opening two stores in Nigeria as part of a strategy to double its stores outside of South Africa over the next three years to about 200. But plans to open shop in Kenya had been placed on the back burner when the opportunity arose in Nigeria, financial director Ronnie Steyn said. “East Africa we have had a look at, but we are not moving there yet. We can’t do everything at the same time,” he said. Struggling for growth at home, local retailers are looking to the continent for more sales as a nascent middle class starts to splurge on items previously seen as luxuries. The shares fell 1.09 percent to close at R90.50 on the JSE yesterday. – Reuters