Pick n Pay Namibia has ventured into the value retail space through the lunch of the Supa Shop brand.
The leading supermarket chain’s Managing Director Graeme Mouton told The Brief that the decision to open value retail shops was driven by changes in consumer needs.
“Supa Shop is a brand owned by Pick n Pay Namibia and is a value-based brand that serves the growing middle-to-lower income shopper that was born out of a need to find new ways of operating differently as our customers’ needs have changed. We did extensive research to ensure the brand connects and resonates with our customers in a meaningful way. We used the insights from our customers on the name and logo and the Supa Shop brand was established,” he said.
He added that the operational arrangement between Supa Shop and Pick n Pay allows the company to “operate the Supa Shop store with much more flexibility in terms of look, feel and we relooked all aspects of the business including lowering our cost to serve, while boosting our product availability on shelf for the quantities of stock as well as pack sizes that our shopper base demands from us.”
Mouton noted that the Ohlthaver and List (O&L) Group-owned retailer currently has only one Supa Shop operational, a concept store which will determine the retailer’s plans regarding the brand going forward.
“The learnings from the current store will determine the way forward but at this stage we are still refining the current store and will not open any new stores. The B1 store was selected because of location, something any business strategist will tell you is extremely important when planning to open a new business and when considering the market needs. The specific location: being right next to a growing taxi rank, opposite one of the biggest hospitals and with the prospects of the surrounding offices and the proximity to the community, presented itself when the B1 mall was built. It was an opportunity that we could not miss as it gave us the chance to test the concept store in the market,” Mouton said.
On the clothing retail plans, Pick n Pay’s Mouton said its previous plans to launch independent stores had not proved viable.
“We have explored this option in the past and unfortunately it did not prove viable at that stage. At the moment, our clothing department inside the stores have proven to be a much more cost beneficial approach,” he said.
This comes after the retailer last year announced plans to launch two Pick n Pay Express stores as part of a venture into the country’s convenience retail space as it seeks to evolve and cater for increased customers’ needs amid increased competition in the segment, which has seen the entry of Spar which 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.
In November the retailer, which operated 21 retail stores across Namibia and employed over 1,700 employees, announced the closure of two retail stores in Eros and Keetmanshoop due to poor operational performance over a 24-month period.
