Business

Pick n Pay relaunching iconic brand in South Africa

Luke Fraser

 ·2 Nov 2025

Pick n Pay is undergoing a series of changes in South Africa, including an overhaul of its popular No Name brand. 

Speaking with the Business Times, Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers said that the retailer is relaunching its No Name in-house brand. 

The company first launched its No Name private label in 1976, offering customers budget-friendly alternatives to premium brands. There are now over 3,000 Pick’n Pay No Name options. 

However, Summers said that a lot of work has been done to clean out a lot of the items that were poorly conceived as part of the brand at the time they were put together. 

Summers said that the group got rid of a lot of items that should never have been in No Name. 

Over the next year, shoppers can expect to see a “radically revamped” and repositioned range in their stores. 

He hopes that the No Name brand can attract customers by becoming a well-known, leading house brand. 

The changes come amid a series of changes at Pick n Pay as it looks to return to profitability. 

Summers returned to Pick n Pay in late 2023 amid a series of significant challenges at the company, including its failed Ekuseni Strategy. 

This led the group to declare a R3 billion loss in the 2024 financial year. 

A key part of the turnaround strategy has been to close unprofitable stores. The group has shuttered stores worth about R4 billion in sales. 

Speaking with BizNews, Summers said that most of the store closures are now complete, with only a few remaining. 

The group closed a net 59 supermarkets over in its most recent interim period, with between five and eight more stores still set to close 

The core Pick n Pay grocery stores saw turnover of R36.3 billion. The company said that the lacklustre revenue growth was due to a reduction linked to a decrease in its store estate. 

However, Summers believes that the smaller store estate will actually help the company better serve customers. 

“The optimisation of our store estate has removed a large number of loss-making stores out of the system,” he said.

“The smaller store estate allows us to serve our customers better and to support our long-term sustainable growth.”

He added that Pick n Pay does not view the competitive retail space as a race to see which retailer has the most stores. 

Improving results

In its interim results for the six months ended August 31, 2025, Pick’n Pay stated that it successfully executed multiple strategic initiatives aimed at returning to profit. 

The group’s headline loss reduced to R439 million, compared to a loss of R804 million in the prior comparable period. The improved result was driven by a R227 million increase in trading profit.

The group also benefited from over R500 million positive net funding interest swing, as its recapitalisation was realised in group earnings.

The group’s recent two-step recapitalisation plan saw it raise billions from a rights offer and the listing of Boxer. 

The group’s overall turnover increased 4.9%, driven by 13.9% growth from Boxer. 

However, the group admitted that the Pick n Pay Segments Loss for the 2026 Financial Year will be in line with FY2025. 

“This is because Pick n Pay continues to invest in critical skills to rebuild retail excellence to facilitate the achievement of the trading profit after lease interest break-even target,” it said.