{"id":838211,"date":"2025-09-23T14:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=838211"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:01:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:01:52","slug":"big-changes-for-pick-n-pay-stores-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/838211\/big-changes-for-pick-n-pay-stores-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes for Pick n Pay stores in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pick n Pay has opened its first Hypermarket in Pietermaritzburg, with the new-look conversions underpinning the group’s store reset and rollout in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Hypermarket in PMB is a conversion of the existing Pick n Pay Supermarket at Midlands Liberty Mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retail group decided to upgrade the Liberty Mall store after a review of local shopping patterns and customer needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said the new Hypermarket stores form part of Pick n Pay\u2019s broader national turnaround strategy and “reset”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, the Liberty Mall Hypermarket is the first of several national revamps planned this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is planning Hypermarket conversions and new-look stores in Klerksdorp, Ottery, and Longbeach over the next two months.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers said the group’s store reset programme is an important part of the turnaround, which is moving Pick n Pay SA back to profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes converting under-performing stores, partnering with landlords to “right-size” locations, and investing in targeted refurbishments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also includes the conversion of some Pick’n Pay stores into Boxer brand stores, where suitable, as well as the closure of outlets that are loss-making or underperforming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting its results for the year ended 2 March 2025, the total number of Pick n Pay supermarkets, both company-owned and franchise stores,\u00a0declined by a net of 45 stores to 570 supermarkets as of March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes 289 company-owned supermarkets and 21 hypermarkets, and 260 franchise supermarkets. A total of 15 Pick n Pay stores were converted to Boxer stores during the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summers has been vocal about the retail footprint not being everything, insisting on driving profitability off a smaller base, rather than sinking costs into loss-making reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019re moving away from scale for its own sake, focusing instead on a smaller, more profitable, higher-quality store base,” Summers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the same time, we\u2019re enhancing our customer offer with a sharper product mix, improved services, and stronger customer engagement to deliver a more competitive, customer-focused proposition.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New format stores are key<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pick n Pay said the new Hypermarket format is central to its plans, aimed at delivering more value, greater variety, and convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hypermarket aims to be a one-stop shopping experience, catering to a far larger customer base than just the immediate surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of the Midlands Liberty Mall Hypermarket, this is to serve customers in Pietermaritzburg and the greater KwaZulu-Natal region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Whether you\u2019re shopping for fresh produce, tech gadgets, or outdoor furniture \u2013 you\u2019ll find it all under one roof,” the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Hypermarket will introduce an expanded general merchandise section, including tech and appliances, DIY and tools, outdoor and garden essentials, home storage, toys, and kitchenware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fresh food offering has also been enhanced, featuring a gourmet butchery, frozen meats and fish, a biltong bar, and a convenient \u2018Grab & Go\u2019 counter with hot meals like burgers and boerewors rolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoppers can also expect a broader grocery range, with new additions such as bulk cleaning products, sweets, catering supplies, and pet care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pick n Pay is not alone in changing tactics in South Africa. Other retail groups are also narrowing their focus and pulling out of loss-making or tight-margin ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR has in recent years made a concerted effort to pull back and pull out of operations in Europe to focus on its South African operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths, which has seen great success with its Food stores, has also learned difficult lessons with its operations in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Shoprite, which is rapidly expanding in South Africa, has pulled back from operations outside of the country to focus on home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the big name retailers face stiffer competition with international players like Walmart entering the ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Walmart has long had a presence in South Africa through Massmart\u2014owner of Game and Makro\u2014the group has announced plans to launch Walmart branded stores in the country for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pick n Pay has opened its first Hypermarket in Pietermaritzburg, with the new-look conversions underpinning the group’s store reset and rollout in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":838215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[4067,23672],"class_list":["post-838211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-pick-n-pay","tag-store-openings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838216,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838211\/revisions\/838216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}