{"id":881182,"date":"2026-10-23T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=881182"},"modified":"2026-10-23T11:45:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T09:45:02","slug":"end-of-an-era-for-shoprite-pick-n-pay-or-spar-in-shopping-malls-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/881182\/end-of-an-era-for-shoprite-pick-n-pay-or-spar-in-shopping-malls-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era for Shoprite, Pick n Pay, or SPAR in shopping malls in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s shopping malls are preparing for the end of an era as Shoprite, Pick n Pay, and SPAR lose the ability to secure exclusive grocery retail space under long-term lease agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From January 2027, grocery retailers will no longer be allowed to enter into new exclusive lease agreements, while existing arrangements must be terminated by 31 December 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes are expected to create opportunities for additional supermarkets and smaller retailers to establish themselves in shopping centres across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission\u2019s move follows its Grocery Retail Market Inquiry (GRMI), published in December 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inquiry found that exclusive lease agreements restricted competition, limited consumer choice, and made it more difficult for emerging retailers to enter the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission subsequently reached consent agreements with Shoprite, Pick n Pay and SPAR, which were confirmed as legally binding orders by the Competition Tribunal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competition Commission spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga confirmed that all remaining grocery exclusivity arrangements must end by the December 2026 deadline, with no agreements permitted to remain in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the restrictions applied to Shoprite, Pick n Pay and SPAR, while Woolworths and Food Lover\u2019s Market were not affected because they did not have exclusive leases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It affects all landlords with grocery exclusivity clauses, though many wanted them scrapped anyway,” Makunga said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change is a significant shift for South African shopping centres, where exclusive leases have historically allowed major supermarket groups to prevent competing grocery retailers from opening in the same centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission\u2019s inquiry found that these arrangements helped entrench the dominance of established retailers and restricted the participation of smaller and emerging businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also concluded that the practice deprived consumers of greater choice, competition, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission recommended engaging with retailers to end the practice voluntarily, leading to agreements with the three major supermarket groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoprite was the first national supermarket chain to conclude a consent agreement, which the Competition Tribunal confirmed in October 2020. Pick n Pay followed in June 2021, while SPAR\u2019s agreement was confirmed in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improves access to different price points, products, and promotions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Under the agreements, the retailers were required to stop enforcing exclusivity clauses against small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and grocery stores owned by historically disadvantaged people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR\u2019s agreement specifically required the group to stop enforcing exclusivity provisions in head leases covering its company-owned stores and to exclude such clauses from future leases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also committed to ending the enforcement of exclusivity provisions against speciality stores and SMEs, subject to certain exceptions, including a 12-month exclusion for competing franchisees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deadline has already influenced how shopping centres are managed, with landlords adjusting their tenant mixes ahead of the formal end of exclusivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growthpoint head of retail asset management Gavin Jones said the change had been anticipated for some time, with landlords already introducing different retailers and supermarket groups renewing leases without exclusivity clauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The change has created opportunities to introduce a second or third supermarket into larger centres, pairing mainstream grocers with value-focused retailers such as Shoprite and Boxer to serve different customer segments and give shoppers greater choice,” Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening of shopping centres to additional grocery retailers could change the competitive landscape for established supermarket groups, particularly in larger centres where multiple operators can serve different customer segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The changes could mean more supermarkets competing for their business, potentially improving access to different price points, products, and promotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smaller retailers could also gain access to locations that were previously difficult to enter because of agreements protecting existing tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the end of exclusivity does not mean every shopping centre will immediately gain another supermarket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The availability of suitable retail space, the size of a centre, and the commercial decisions of landlords and retailers will continue to influence which businesses open new stores.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s shopping malls are preparing for the end of an era as Shoprite, Pick n Pay, and SPAR lose the ability to secure exclusivity agreements. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":834189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2113578942401573029","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2246423049511427","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18168270325482744","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[1516,26927,4067,7520,853,9838],"class_list":["post-881182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-competition-commission","tag-grocery-retail-market-inquiry-grmi","tag-pick-n-pay","tag-shoprite","tag-south-africa","tag-spar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881182","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881201,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881182\/revisions\/881201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}