RETAILER NEWS

Growthpoint Properties has acquired a strategic site in Blackheath, Cape Town for a quality, tenant-tailored industrial property development. read more

Ackermans stores in South Africa will be closed for trade on Sunday, 15 December 2013.  read more

Washington, D.C. – Retail sales in November increased a better-than-expected 0.7% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. (The figure includes categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations, and restaurants.) Analysts were expecting sales to rise 0.6% in last month. The latest retail sales numbers were 4.7% above November 2012 numbers.  read more

Due to popular demand, Cotton On Body opened their second stand-alone Cotton On Body store in South Africa at Blue Route Mall, Tokai, on 7 December 2013.  read more

[Cape Town, 12 December 2013] Pick n Pay Chief Executive Richard Brasher announced today that all profits from sales in its stores on Sunday 15 December will be donated to charitable causes in honour of the memory and legacy of former President Nelson Mandela.  read more

Following seven successful years of being the premier shopping destination of Vanderbijlpark and the Vaal Triangle, Vaal Mall will undergo a substantial 20,000sqm expansion in 2014. read more

Clicks stores across South Africa will be closed on Sunday 15 December, the day of Madiba’s funeral. read more

National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) director general Charles Mpundu says Levy Park Shopping Mall has contributed to national development through job creation during the construction and post-construction phases. read more

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores named David Cheesewright, 51, as the new president and CEO of Walmart International. He succeeds Douglas McMillon, who is set to become the chain’s CEO, the retailer's top executive. Both assume their new roles on Feb. 1, 2014. read more

On the edge of the Cradle of Humankind, one of eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in South Africa, Cradlestone Mall has been built to serve the needs of the growing residential and business population to the northwest of Johannesburg. read more

Engen Sea Point Convenience Centre, located along the Atlantic Seaboard in Cape Town, became the 50th Quickshop convenience centre with a Woolworths Foodstop when it opened its doors to the public recently after a significant revamp. read more

Massmart Holdings will close its stores on Sunday, 15 December 2013.  read more

This week, Makro SA scooped a prestigious eta award for its energy efficient new generation stores at Eskom’s 24th eta Awards ceremony.  read more

Following the successful introduction of Country Road and Trenery to South Africa, Woolworths will exclusively offer the iconic Australian brands Witchery and Mimco from March 2014.  read more

On Thursday, 28 November, the biggest Woolworths food market to date opened at Waterstone Village, Somerset West in the Western Cape. With a truly comprehensive range of Woolworths own products including some exciting innovative ideas and more product categories, as well as more of South Africa’s favourite brands  read more

DionWired has embraced the multichannel retail concept with the launch of its brand new website, which was developed to give consumers a highly positive, symmetrical shopping experience between the web and the brick-and-mortar stores. read more

Massmart’s anticipated new format Builders Superstore opened on 29 November 2013 in Gauteng. A total of 58 job opportunities were created with the opening of the two new stores in Tembisa and Evaton. The new format will service customers with homes situated in dense residential, township, rural and developing areas, and will be conveniently located near commuter nodes  read more

Ninety percent of office and restaurant space at The Grove Mall of Namibia, which is currently under construction in Kleine Kuppe in Windhoek, has already been taken. read more

Harare - John Moxon, the chairman of Zimbabwe’s Meikles Africa, which runs TM Supermarkets jointly with South African grocer Pick n Pay, is bullish about future prospects in the country’s retail industry, saying the company has adopted a robust expansion plan to capitalise on the expected shift for the better in consumer spending patterns.  read more

Chicago -- A majority (88%) of retailers are using social media as part of their 2013 holiday marketing blitz. But they still remain divided about mobile marketing, with only 38% using it this year, down from 50% in 2012. read more

Chicago -- Shoppers visited more stores and spent more money across the days of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday (Nov. 28 and 29) than they did last year, according to ShopperTrak. read more

Hundreds of shoppers flocked to the Keetmanshoop Old Mutual Retail Centre last month after Crazy Stores became the first outlet to open its doors to the public with Fashion Express and Exact following suit.  read more

New research finds banking group Absa’s CashSend to be the most popular mobile money system in South Africa. read more

After an improved performance at the half year, Pick n Pay is demonstrating its commitment to pursuing positive growth through focused, streamlined operations and an expanding store footprint, with plans to open over 60 new stores in the six months to end February 2014. read more

Woolworths opened its 50th Foodstop at Engen in Sea Point, Cape Town, yesterday, in line with its strategy to bring Woolworths quality and convenience to more customers.  read more

Shoprite Checkers will celebrate the opening of its 1000th supermarket in Africa when a new generation Checkers store opens its doors for trading in the Western Cape on Thursday, 28 November 2013. Checkers Zevenwacht is located in the Shoprite Group’s newly developed shopping centre, Langverwacht Plein, in Kuils River.  read more

Undertaking an extensive expansion programme while minimising the impact on an estimated 24 million visitors per annum is no small feat. In a R140 million upgrade to its Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre, the V&A Waterfront has managed to not only improve its retail trade performance over the nine month construction period, but also increase the number of visitors to the Centre over the same period. read more

Johannesburg - Retailer Foschini Group [JSE:TFGP] said on Thursday it planned to more than double its African presence in the next five years, a day after a rival pulled the plug on the key Nigerian market. read more

According to Woolworths chief executive Ian Moir, the company always listens to what its shareholders say about executive remuneration, “especially those who have issues” with the subject. read more

The Naivas chain of supermarkets has opened a new branch, Mountain Mall, on the Thika superhighway. This is the chain's 29th store.  read more

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s third-quarter net income fell 47%, hurt by costs related to its Canadian expansion. Its adjusted profit beat analysts' estimates, but sales fell short. The retailer lowered its full-year adjusted earnings forecast. read more

Value fashion retailer, Mr Price has taken its homeware division, Mr Price Home online. Mr Price Apparel launched its online sales platform in South Africa in July 2012 and internationally in July 2013. read more

London - Britain's Tesco, battling plunging profits in mainland Europe, is to sell off land around its stores in Poland for development to make the sites more attractive to shoppers.  read more

The Liberty Group announced today significant plans to further entrench its Liberty Midlands Mall investment as the lifestyle centre of choice for tenants and shoppers in the Pietermaritzburg area. read more

Kenya's top three retail chains, Nakumatt, Tuskys and Uchumi are set to open new stores in strategic locations across the country in time for the December festive season's shopping boom. read more

Washington - Walmart reported on Thursday a 2.8% year-on-year rise in third-quarter net profit, but warned that sales during the crucial holiday shopping season are expected to be "relatively flat." read more

There is a proliferation of shopping malls in Gaborone, in the last decade, raising questions of whether locals have the spending power to sustain the malls, economically. Property developers concede that the retail property market is subdued but remains one of the most viable business propositions to date. read more

New York -- Macy’s Herald Square store has taken the wraps off a dramatic makeover of its beauty and fragrances department. Re-fashioned within a brand-new 24,000-sq.-ft. space, the new department includes brand new counters, shops and bars for brows, blow-outs and nails. read more

Retailer, Choppies Enterprises Limited is said to have gone into agreement with an unnamed Zimbabwean company to acquire 49 percent of its total share holding. The unnamed company is believed to be in the business of running supermarkets and it is understood to be running ten retail stores in Zimbabwe. read more

Uchumi Supermarket has received approvals to trade its shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange. read more

Johannesburg - Retail sales grew at a sluggish 0.2% in September compared with the same month last year, after expanding by a revised 3.2% in August, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. read more

Game Gateway will launch its ‘Fresh for Less’ range on 13 November in time for Christmas. This will be the first store in KZN to get a taste of Game’s fresh food offering that has converted numerous shoppers in the Western Cape and Gauteng since its first appearance in the Western Cape in November 2010. read more

Johannesburg - Retailer Mr Price on Tuesday posted interim earnings growth of 22% because of sales growth and said it plans to open over 40 stores in the second half of the year. read more

Thorofare, N.J. -- Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organised retail crime and administrative errors, cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, and represented 1.4% of retail sales, on average, according to the 2012-2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer. In the United States, shrink came in at 1.5% of retail sales. read more

New York -- Procrastinating is out this year when it comes to holiday shopping, with most consumers (62%) planning to finish their gift buying on or before Dec. 16, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers. read more

Johannesburg - Truworths International Ltd., South Africa’s largest listed clothing retailer, fell the most in more than four years as inflation curbed consumer spending and slowed its sales growth. read more

Johannesburg - Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the maker of Cartier jewellery and IWC watches, said a “subdued” environment increases the need for caution and countered speculation it will sell any of its 20 brands.  read more

Clothing retailer, Woolworths Kenya has signed an agreement with consumer finance firm afb allowing its customers to buy goods on credit to be repaid in six months.  read more

In just under three weeks, Pick n Pay will open its new store at the V&A Waterfront, bringing an unprecedented retail offering to the central Cape Town area. Located in a prime and highly accessible position on the lower level of the Victoria Wharf, the store will start trading at 10am on Thursday 28 November 2013. read more

Atterbury Property Developments’ Waterfall Business Estate is poised to become one of the strongest and most successful nodes within the Gauteng market and in South Africa.  read more

Retail group TFG (The Foschini Group) has increased total retail sales by 9% to R6.7-billion with sales in the rest of Africa growing 25% in the six months to the end of September 2013. Cash sales in this period grew by 12.7%.  read more

Named for its unique location, the newly developed Cradlestone Mall in the heart of Mogale City in Johannesburg’s West Rand - near the world heritage site of the Cradle of Humankind - officially opens its doors on 20 November 2013. read more

According to Charles Fourie of Safland Property Group, the construction of the Grove Mall of Namibia is running smoothly and is on track. To date 90% of the Grove Mall has been rented out ahead of its official opening in 2014.  read more

Johannesburg - Woolworths had signed a deal to regain 100 percent control of its previously franchised stores in four African countries, the high-end retailer has said.  read more

Edcon, South Africa’s largest non-food retailer, and Kobo, a global leader in eReading, today announced that Kobo eReaders are now available at 91 CNA stores, one of the largest book and stationary retailers in the country.  read more

New York -- The first Walmart to be entirely lit with LEDs has opened, in South Euclid, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. The store will serve as a model for environmentally friendly design for future locations, with 100% LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot and more.  read more

Johannesburg -Shoprite [JSE:SHP] reported a 10% rise in July-September sales on Monday, helped by a strong showing at its sub-Saharan stores outside its struggling home market. read more

On Planet Retail’s predictions for the UK retail market over Christmas 2013, Stephen Springham, Senior Retail Analyst at Planet Retail, commented: read more

Sporting an appealing mix of successful retailers guaranteed and construction progressing apace, the vision for the R400 million Eyethu Orange Farm Mall to become a successful, profitable asset for the community of Orange Farm is within reach.  read more

The super-regional 76 000sqm Cradlestone Mall is set to open its doors in Mogale City on 20 November 2013, with more than 200 stores offering unparalleled choice to shoppers, both local and from further afield. read more

Construction of commercial space is turning out a lucrative venture for landlords in Nakuru as letting prices appreciate. Prices have doubled from Sh20-30 per square foot a month three years ago to Sh60-70 per square foot, a spot check by the Star reveals. read more

Uchumi supermarkets could grind to a halt next Wednesday if employees make good their threat to down their tools. The Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers has issued a strike notice dated October 9 to pressurise the supermarket chain's management to meet workers' demands for higher pay. read more

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is making a big online push for the holidays, including expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 (the service is now available in about half of the chain’s locations). And for the first time, Target will promote the concept of Cyber Week, with an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that focuses on Cyber Week deals including Cyber Monday. read more

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores plans to open as many as 110 stores in China between 2014 and 2016, as well as several new Sam’s Club locations there. The new stores will employ as many as 19,000 people. read more

Mr Price Group Ltd. advanced to a record high after the South African clothing and furniture retailer said earnings climbed 18 to 22 percent even as household budgets tightened. read more

Berlin - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has vowed to cut the near 60 000 tonnes of food wasted by its suppliers and shoppers each year, the latest firm volunteering to help tackle a growing environmental problem. read more

Johannesburg - South African beauty and pharmaceutical retailer, Clicks, has said trading over the Christmas holiday season is critical to its fiscal 2014 performance as consumer spending remains weak read more

London - Britain's Marks & Spencer will step-up expansion of its Simply Food store network as it looks to benefit from growing consumer demand for smaller, convenience outlets, it said on Tuesday.  read more

Massmart will open the doors to three George pop up stores today, to give South African consumers a taste of the famous British brand of clothing. read more

In an extremely competitive market, customers have responded positively to decisive action by Pick n Pay to improve the shopping trip. In the first six months to 01 September 2013, the company delivered an improved financial performance over the previous period, growing Group till sales (owned and franchise stores) by 8.1%.  read more

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Fackson Shamenda, says Shoprite is operating normally and its operating licence is still in force. read more

The construction of a shopping mall to be the property of the University of Zambia (UNZA) Great East Road campus will cost K248 million. read more

Bentonville, Ark. – The Indian central bank is reportedly reviewing findings of an investigation into whether Wal-Mart Stores broke that country’s investment rules in 2010.  read more

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General is opening its first fuel station, as part of a test pilot project. The new fuel pumps are located at the Dollar General Market in Hanceville, Ala. read more

Nakumatt is targeting new sales within the hospitality industry by offering select label products like furnishings, decorative accessories, bath towels, bed and table linen. according to the supermarket chain's business development manager Neel Shah. read more

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores detailed a number of moves, including opening smaller stores in the United States, cutting back on overseas growth and increasing its investments in technology and e-commerce, on the occasion of the company’s 20th annual investor meeting. read more

Port Washington, N.Y. -- The majority of consumers intend to spend the same as or more than last year, with fewer saying they plan to spend less, according to The NPD Group’s Holiday Spending Survey, the twelfth annual survey of consumers’ holiday spending intentions. read more

Shoprite chief executive Whitey Basson has moved beyond blaming the usual suspects of unions and labour legislation for South Africa’s economic woes and has lashed out at the “declining” manufacturing sector for its lack of innovation and competitiveness. read more

London - J Sainsbury, Britain's No. 3 supermarket, plans to open its first distribution centre dedicated to online grocery orders in response to rapidly increasing demand in south-east England. read more

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar has elevated Jason Reiser to the position of senior VP/lead merchandising officer at Family Dollar, according to an internal memo from company president and COO Mike Bloom. read more

Bringing its unique investor proposition to market, Attacq Limited today listed on the Main Board of the JSE, under the Real Estate - Real Estate Holdings and Development sector, with the short code “ATT”. read more

Fountainhead Property Trust last week declared a distribution for the 11 months to 31 August 2013 in line with market guidance and 2% down on its distribution for the comparable 11 months in 2012. The Trust changed its financial year-end from 30 September to 31 August. read more

Foschini, JSE’s worst-performing clothing retailer this year, said it plans to open 21 new stores on the rest of the continent as consumers in South Africa continue to struggle in debt.  read more

The construction of the US$40 million Mukuba Shopping Mall in Kitwe has hit a snag after being halted by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). read more

Mall of the North is bringing shoppers more of what they want and improving its shopping experience.  read more

The Namibian Competition Commission has given its blessings to the deal in which Oryx Properties was seeking permission to acquire the Gustav Voigts Centre from Growthpoint Properties. read more

Brussels - The CEO of Delhaize Group's European division has resigned, effective Oct. 31, the Belgian supermarket operator said. read more

Seattle -- The global retail real estate market rebounded in the first half of the year, with international and luxury brands expanding to new markets and high street properties growing in popularity, according to a new report from Colliers International.  read more

Jozini Mall, the new 18,220 square metre community shopping centre in North-Eastern KwaZulu-Natal, is now fully let and will open on Thursday, 24th October 2013. read more

New York, Shoppers in the United States intend to spend an average of $646 on gifts this holiday season, representing an 11% increase over the $582 they planned to spend, on average, in 2012, according to Accenture’s annual holiday shopping survey. The forecast uptick is more optimistic than other holiday surveys released to date. read more

Heidelberg Mall, set to open in October 2014, is already attracting a powerhouse of leading retailers a full year before it opens, including some of South Africa’s most popular national stores.  read more

Simon Susman, the Woolworths chairman, is the latest big businessman to put the cat among the government pigeons by suggesting that the labour market environment is too constraining.  read more

Kenya’s Uchumi's Supermakets Ltd. has been cleared to cross list at Rwanda's Stock Exchange. read more

On Tesco’s H1 results, David Gray, Retail Analyst at Planet Retail, commented: “As expected, Tesco reported a drop in UK like-for-like sales driven by subdued general merchandise sales, which are continuing to suffer, albeit like-for-like sales showed improvement in the second quarter. Nevertheless, food sales held up fuelled by warm weather in July/August alongside a new food-focused ‘Love Every Mouthful’ marketing campaign which launched during the half. We expect to see further positive news on food sales in the months ahead as improvements to product ranges come through.  read more

Last week’s Nairobi’s Westgate Mall attacks had hammered Kenya’s general retailer, Nakumatt, one of Africa’s most home-based business triumphs, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).  read more

Johannesburg - South African clothing retail outlets have scored a customer satisfaction rating of 82 out of 100 according to the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi). read more

London - Tesco led European shares lower early on Wednesday after the world's third largest retailer's quarterly revenues flatlined as its turnaround plan failed to bear fruit, prompting earnings downgrades. read more

Massmart has confirmed it is interested in buying a major stake in Kenyan retailer Naivas. read more

Local retail chain, Sefalana, has withdrawn a lawsuit it filed at the Lobatse High Court against the Competition Authority (CA), Choppies, SupaSave and MegaSave. Citing market share concerns, Sefalana went to court after it lost the bid to acquire SupaSave and its distribution wing, MegaSave to rival supermarket chain, Choppies. read more

Windhoek is fast becoming a hub for dedicated shoppers with the marked increase in the construction and extension of shopping centres. Residents of Pioneers Park Extension 1 can now look forward to closer access to groceries, fast food and medicine at the Westlane Shopping Centre which is currently under construction.  read more