Pick n Pay wants to beat Checkers and Woolworths
Pick n Pay chief executive Sean Summers says he is on a mission to make Pick n Pay the top supermarket chain in South Africa.
Summers shared his views during a Biznews interview following Pick n Pay’s interim results for the 26 weeks ended 31 August 2025.
The retailer’s turnover grew 4.9% to R58.8 billion, driven mainly by Boxer’s strong performance of 13.9% turnover growth to R22.52 billion.
While Pick n Pay still contributed the biggest share of turnover, at R36.30 billion, this reflects turnover growth of only 0.1%.
The company explained that the lacklustre revenue growth was due to a reduction in the company’s store estate.
Over the last year, Pick n Pay reduced its company-owned and franchise supermarkets by a net 59. These closures affected its top line.
However, Summers is not concerned about the group’s shrinking store estate. In fact, he believes it will help Pick n Pay better serve its 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 said Pick n Pay does not see the competitive retail space as a race for which retailer has the most stores. “It is not about size. It is about being the best,” he said.
“We are genuinely on a mission again to put Pick n Pay at the top of being the best supermarket chain in South Africa,” Summers said.
He highlighted that Pick n Pay was the top retailer in 2007 when he left the company after a decade at the helm. “It took time to get there,” he said.
Summers is now working to retain its top position, which it held eighteen years ago, where it was the retailer of choice among millions of South Africans.
The rise and fall of Pick n Pay
Summers is a Pick n Pay stalwart who worked for the company from 1974 to 2007. He became managing director in 1996 and CEO in 1999.
During his tenure as CEO, Summers made Pick n Pay the clear grocery market leader in South Africa with an average annual revenue growth rate of 16%.
Pick n Pay’s growth rate was significantly higher than Shoprite’s average annual revenue growth rate of 11% over the same period.
It also generated more revenue than Shoprite during this period, passing Shoprite’s revenue from 2003 to 2007.
However, things did not go as planned after Summers left the company. Pick n Pay quickly lost market share and even became technically insolvent.
The company was in such a dire situation that the board asked Summers to return as chief executive in 2023 to fix the mess.
He took on the challenge, but warned investors that it would take time to return Pick n Pay to its former glory.
Summer admitted that Pick n Pay was destroyed and hollowed out from the inside. “Nothing that happened to us was not self-inflicted,” he said.
“We have forgotten what we stood for and what we really believe in. Even more importantly, we forgot what we don’t do.”
He said it would take time to reinstate the institutional knowledge that made them South Africa’s top retailer.
Pick n Pay versus Shoprite
The images below, courtesy of The Outlier, show the rise and fall of Pick n Pay over the last two decades.
Loading ...