Hyperama stores destined to be revamped by year's end

SHOPRITE Checkers has decided to split the Shoprite and Checkers brands, having the management of its Checkers stores fall under its Hyperama chain.

The Cape-based Shoprite group took ownership of four of the country's retail brands when it took over 170 Checkers stores in 1991 and OK Bazaars (which owned Hyperama) in 1997.

Shoprite Checkers general manager for marketing Brian Weyers said that after Shoprite took over Checkers, the two chains were merged.

This was despite Shoprite targeting low- to middle-income consumers and Checkers being focused on middle- to upper-income consumers.

Although Shoprite and Checkers had different target markets, Weyers said the merger was 'necessary to put the chain together' as Shoprite was based in the Cape while Checkers was a more national brand.

Checkers stores which were more suitable to the Shoprite profile in terms of location and customer profile were converted to Shoprite stores.

Checkers stores that fitted its customer profile in terms of their location, and which were financially viable, remained unchanged.

The Checkers brand had now become more viable and thus needed a more focused marketing strategy, Weyers said.

He said the Hyperama shared the same target as Checkers, and the group felt not only was it the natural thing to do, but the timing was right to make the change.

The group would benefit from the synergies of having the two chains under one management structure.

Weyers said Hyperama stores had not been revamped in the past 10 years and would now be changed to resemble the new branding for the Checkers stores.

The group expected to have the Hyperama stores revamped by the end of the year.

Hyperama would take over the group's Gauteng Checkers division, which is revising the range of products in the Gauteng Checkers stores.

Gauteng Checkers stores' range of products would soon resemble that of the Hyperamas, more than that of the Shoprite stores in Gauteng, Weyers said.

The remaining Checkers stores in Gauteng would retain the Checkers brand.

Weyers said Checkers stores in the rest of the country would also undergo the management, merchandising and marketing change as soon as the Gauteng division had been integrated into the Hyperama.

Shoprite opened its first store in Dube, Soweto, last month, at the site of Soweto's first supermarket. This follows the establishment of a store in Dobsonville.

With the local retail market saturated, Shoprite had set its sights on expanding into Africa.

Shoprite now had 56 outlets outside the country and aimed to have 50% of the group's revenue generated from other African countries in the long term.

The group is expected to release its results for the year ending June later this month.

Shoprite's share price closed up 0,88% to R5,75 yesterday, with 1425707 shares traded.