Pick n Pay Namibia is venturing into the convenience retail space with two Pick n Pay Express stores planned for 2022.
The decision by the Ohlthaver & List Group-owned retailer comes as Spar has partnered Shell in its convenience store rollout in Namibia, while OK Stores has joined forces with Puma Energy Namibia to open 12 new OK Express stores across the country.
“At this point, we are planning only 2 Express stores for 2022, with the first one already open at Mile 4, Swakopmund,” the retailer said.
Pick n Pay Namibia, however, said it was not partnering Namcor, a recent entrant into the country’s fuel retail business for its rollout, although the two companies “have a good business relationship”.
“The Express outlet is in fact a franchise of Pick n Pay Namibia and operates independently from the Namcor service station. The Franchisee is the one who has the agreement with Namcor to operate a Namcor forecourt and with Pick n Pay Namibia to operate the Express Store,” the retailer explained.
Pick n Pay said it was not concerned about the competition that already exists in the local convenience retail space, citing its reputable brand and a viable business case of its foray.
“From a competitor perspective, we are not really concerned because we believe that the Pick n Pay brand has a lot of equity across Namibia. In the convenience retail sector, specifically with the service station concept in mind, there is in fact a lot of opportunity because most service station convenience stores are owner managed under the petroleum brand and not necessarily the retail brand. The Pick n Pay Express is the leading express store in South Africa and we have identified it as an opportunity in Namibia for us to evolve and cater for our customers’ needs.”
Quizzed if the launch of Pick n Pay Express was not ill-timed, considering a surge in the retail price of fuel, a development which impacts consumer traffic to service stations, the company said it was fully equipped to deal with any challenges.
“The increases experienced in specifically fuel over the past few weeks definitely has an effect on everyone, not only shops. It affects all areas of our community, but it cannot determine our future. As a proud O&L subsidiary, we still have a responsibility towards our communities and our business to fulfill our purpose of ‘creating a future, enhancing life.’ We just need to find smarter and more efficient ways to provide our customers with what they want and what they need,” the company added.
The latest decision to enter into the convenience stores market comes at a time the retailer has been closing some of its conventional supermarkets.
“We only closed one store in 2020 and the decision taken to close our Walvis Bay store was purely a business decision keeping in mind that the store we closed was not doing our brand any justice as we had opened the store in Dunes mall that offered our customers a much better shopping experience. The opening of the mall also affected the market and we saw a shift and movement from established retail outlets to the mall. This impacted the store’s performance and as with any business, we needed to realign our strategy in order for the business to become sustainable.”
The retailer said it has not decided whether or not it will expand its normal retail footprint, despite having embarked on a staff retrenchment last year and a store closure.
“As for the Staff rationalization, we took a strategic stance to optimize our business in 2020 in order for it to become sustainable. Doing this ensured that we implemented employee efficiencies that secured almost 90% of our staff with jobs; taking into consideration how the Covid pandemic affected many businesses, including ours. We in fact did a complete business model overhaul that not only secured employees jobs, but also jumpstarted our sustainability drive, setting the business up for success in future. At this stage, we cannot say if and when we will open new stores, but we remain focused on ensuring business sustainability that feeds our core purpose of creating a future and enhancing life for all the communities in which we operate.”
On whether Pick n pay was considering offering in store services such as pharmacies and banking services instore, the retailer said, “ Pick n Pay Namibia offers Value Added Services such as certain banking features, ticketing, mobile solutions as well as an online store. Should opportunities arise that prove feasible for all stakeholders, we would definitely take it into consideration.”
