Business

Tables flip for Walmart and Game in South Africa

Jonathan Hoyle

 ·18 Sep 2026

The opening of Walmart at the East Point Shopping Centre has revitalised the retail space—and the US brand has outperformed the Game store that was there before.

Massmart, Walmart’s South African subsidiary, opened its Walmart-branded store in East Point at the end of February 2026 – marking its third store in the country.

Since opening, East Point Shopping Centre owner, SA Corporate Real Estate, said the store has outperformed the Game store, which was there previously.

“Walmart commenced trading at East Point in March 2026 and has already outperformed the Game store it replaced,” the company said.

It said the new Walmart had achieved a trading density 28.7% higher than Game, over the four months since March 2026.

The store was opened in East Point following Massmart’s success with its two previous stores in South Africa.

When opening the East Point store, the company said that it came on the back of strong momentum from its previous stores.

“The Boksburg opening builds on the strong momentum from successful launches in Clearwater and Fourways, where customers have also enthusiastically embraced Walmart’s Every Day Low Price philosophy,” Massmart said.

The company said the East Point opening was well supported by the local community and created 80 new jobs in the area.

Despite the strong performance of its first three store openings, Massmart has been quiet about further expansions in South Africa.

It initially said that the East Point opening would be the start of an “accelerated rollout, with a further 21 stores proposed in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.”

The retailer has not opened any new stores since its store in the East Point Shopping Centre, and told MyBroadband in July that it had no new information on store rollouts.

While expansion plans may be stalled for the retailer, its East Point store has performed well since opening, according to the mall’s owner.

A chance for growth

SA Corporate Real Estate said that Walmart’s strong performance presented an opportunity for the East Point Shopping Centre to expand its range of stores.

“Walmart’s introduction has also created opportunities to further enhance the tenant mix, with management pursuing an upmarket coffee offering, additional children’s entertainment and complementary athleisure brands,” the company said.

The centre currently has over 65 different retailers, including a Pick n Pay Hypermarket, Dischem, and several speciality apparel and sports brands.

East Point Shopping Centre was previously known as the East Rand Galleria, before it was redeveloped in 2016, growing its retail space.

The shopping centre is located close to OR Tambo International Airport, and is connected to the larger East Rand Mall.

East Point Shopping Centre, on its own, has several stores and offers activities outside of shopping, such as Bounce and the Gym Company.

The variety of unique stores and its location in a high-traffic area supported the centre, leading to a roughly 5.9% increase in trading in the last financial year.

The mall’s owner, SA Corporate Real Estate Limited, is a JSE-listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which owns several retail centres.

The company noted increases in trading across several other retail properties, which contributed to a large jump in earnings for the REIT.

For the six months ended 30 June 2026, the company earned roughly R580 million in comprehensive income.

This represents an approximately 144% increase in comprehensive income compared with the 2025 interim period.

SA Corporate Property’s mid-year earnings for 2026 are also already higher than its full-year income from the 2025 financial year.

SA Corporate Property financial results