South Africa news

Botswana-based Choppies has opened a new store in Brits, in the North West province of South Africa. New store to target low income shoppers The 4,300 sq m store is said to be the company’s first hypermarket in the region and will enable it to expand its non-grocery ranges. The company will target shoppers in the LSM3 to 7 brackets with as wide a range as possible at competitive prices. St...

South Africa-based Woolworths has announced plans to expand the range of products it carries at its supermarkets as part of a wider enhancement of the retailer’s stores. New initiatives to support on-going strategy The retailer said that it was looking to extend its ranges, add 2,000 new SKUs, offer more branded goods, invest in price and expand space in order to better meet the needs of its ...

South Africa-based Massmart, in which Walmart has a stake, has said that during the six month period ending 23 December sales rose by 14.7% to ZAR36.2 billion. Growth seen across all operations The company said that comparable sales were up by 7.3% during the timeframe, aided by an average inflation rate of 3.7%. At a divisional level, Massmart said that its Massdiscounters division had seen ...

Woolworths has announced that despite operations outside its home market of South Africa accounting for only a small share of its sales in 2013, it is looking to invest in regional growth as part of a ‘long play’ on Africa’s continued economic expansion. Expansion to be driven by company-owned stores Woolworths’s expansion strategy will focus on adding company-owned stores or through operatin...

South Africa-based Woolworths has announced that during the first half of its financial year it enjoyed total sales growth of 18% and a rise in like-for-like sales of 9.4%. Grocery sales see strong growth The company said that food sales had risen by 11.1%, aided by an increase in price of 7.4%. Like-for-like sales were up by 7.8%, underlining the strength of Woolworths’s performance. Clothin...

South Africa-based Shoprite has said that during the six months to December 2012, Group turnover rose by 13.8% to ZAR46.7 billion, with like-for-like sales up by 6.9%. Home market operations see good growth At its stores in South Africa Shoprite said that sales had risen by 11.5%, aided by like-for-like sales growth of 6.2%. The company said that sales in December alone were up by 10.8%, wi...

South Africa-based Woolworths has announced group results for the first 26 week period of its 2013 financial year, saying that like-for-like sales had risen by 9.4% and by 18% in total, driven by the performance of its clothing range. Good progress across all product categories The company said that in South Africa it had enjoyed positive sales growth across all areas of its business: C...