On 1st November 2015 I wrote the very first blog for this website titled “H&M to change the retail landscape in South Africa”. Only a few days earlier on 17th October 2015 H&M open its first SA store in the V&A waterfront mall. ( you can read this blog again if you wish, just search the title). I ended the article with the following words…………..”Remember this statement from above, H&M will change the retail landscape in South Africa over the next five years”. We are not yet two years into…
As a customer my mind associates the merchandise I can expect to find when I walk into a store to the name above the door. Let me try and detail what my perception of where stores are positioned on the fashion ladder. a) Entry level fashion would be Pep stores and maybe Ackermans/Jet. b) Affordable throw away fashion would be Mr Price and Cotton On. c) Middle range price and fashionability would be Foschini, Edgars, H&M and possibility Woolworths. d) One up price and fashion would cover Truworths and Zara…
In a depressed economy such as SA is going through at present, casualties become a reality. (Stores close for a number of reasons. ) Some examples below….. 1. National retailers close marginal profit stores when lease expires. 2. Independent businesses not financially viable to renew a rental agreement when lease ends. 3. Brand pulls out of country and closes all stores, i.e. Mango/Nine West. 4. Business fails, i.e. Stuttafords. When a small store closes in a regional centre it is usually not difficult to find another tenant to take up…
In the days when Edgars Truworths and Foschini were the retail kings in South Africa, most shoppers had a clothing account at one of those stores or more likely they had an account at all three. Having a clothing account was the accepted normal practice, families would buy merchandise and at the end of the month make a payment of one sixth of the account balance. After three correct payments the retailer would increase the customers open to buy or credit limit, and the cycle would continue. Businesses were built…
Retailers spend large amounts of money on visual material mostly with the objective of creating an exciting environment for thier customers to shop. Large lifestyle visuals, logos and graphics to highlight the latest trends and seasons fashion direction. Often visuals are used to promote certain product sometimes good value items. While browsing in Edgars recently I was amazed at how poorly the store had utilized the price point visual display cards. Not sure what they were trying to say, but certainly left me totally confused. Firstly I came across a…
Xmas spending is over and now is the time retailers launch into sale to clear end of season merchandise and often old stock. In principle when I buy a sale item I want to see the WAS price and the NOW price to make me feel good about the bargin that is available to me. Not so at Clicks!…… On the 30th December 2016, my wife went to Clicks to buy some sale cosmetics, i.e. nail polish/lipsticks etc. At the Sale display where visuals shout out “SAVE UP TO 50%”…
Retail performance is directly related to the abilities of the executive management team. Successful retail chains have one thing in common, a management team who are in sinc with the needs of the business. When egos and insecurities take second place, those operations will thrive and move ahead. Retailers who have insecure managers only interested in themselves are sure to stumble and fall eventually. Leaders who inspire performance from the team understanding the need to motivate and generate excitement. Unfortunately retail companies who have a senior manager at the helm…
The 16th December 2016 being a public holiday and nine days before Xmas, saw many retailers deciding to offer incentives to attract customers. I was in one of our malls and noticed Cotton On had a one day only special. – 40% off all ladies, men’s and homeware merchandise. Now this is a really genuine opportunity for consumers as the 40% discount is on the total range not just the slow sellers that the retailer usually has selected to suit them and not you. The result to me looked like…
Kelso is a clothing label we are all probably familure with, but don’t really consider it to be a brand. It’s more of a label stitched in the inside of the garments where no one can see. We certainly don’t want to wear it as a logo as we would Guess or Nike etc. Kelso belongs to Edgars and has been around for decades, being the merchandise label which is used to identify the house brand. In its day it was the dominate department in the store, generating the best…
It’s not the first time I have written about the changing retail landscape in South Africa and I am sure it will not be the last, as the metamorphosis continues. If we go back +/- five years, the change process had already started. Edgars were involved in a private equity deal which had massive impact on revenue and the business started to drown in debt, loan repayments etc. Senior management made some critical errors with the merchandise direction and started flooding the stores with expensive branded product the South African…