While the local retail sector has faced turbulent times amid the pandemic, and economical woes, South Africa is seeing a more optimistic trajectory emerging with a few new store openings.
Just last week Retail giant Shoprite said it was planning for rapid expansion in South Africa, adding hundreds of new stores, and building a new campus in Johannesburg.
After the Competition Commission approved listed retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) acquisition of Tapestry Home Brands, TFG CEO Anthony Thunström said current plans included expanding its local clothing manufacturing capability and building out their store footprint.
Back in July it was revealed that South Africa would get its fifth LEGO store and now the exact date has been confirmed as 1 October 2022.
The store will be based on the Mall of Africa and there’s reason to attend the first few days that the doors open.
We Are EGG, is scheduled to launch its second department store at the ZONE at Rosebank later this month.
The fashion retailer originally launched in Cavendish Square in December 2020, in the thick of the Covid-19 lockdown, by retail mavericks Paul Simon, the founder of YDE and Arie Fabian of the Fabiani brand, in a pioneering partnership with Old Mutual.
Cavendish says the store has seen impressive numbers in the first 2 years of trading, which bodes well for the new Rosebank opening.
These growth ambitions are, despite South Africa’s retail trade decreasing by 2.5 percent from a year earlier in June of 2022, after a 0.1 percent uptick in the previous month and worse than market forecasts of a 0.4 percent rise, according to StatsSA.
It was the steepest decline in retail activity since January of 2021, in part reflecting the impact of higher inflation and interest rates on consumer spending.
Sales declined most in hardware, paint and glass (-8.6 percent vs -7.1 percent in May); general dealers (-5.7 percent vs 3.8 percent) and pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries (-4.3 percent vs flat reading).
BUSINESS REPORT