Woolies may give up half its Vincent store

This week Woolworths, which will be one of the anchors in Billion Group's R1.6 billion Hemingways Mall that is currently under construction, confirmed that it was “reassessing” its flagship Vincent Park store.

The retailer declined to reveal what changes it was considering to the 5800m² store.

But a retailer who attended an Old Mutual retail conference in Gauteng three weeks ago said Woolworths discussed closing the bottom half of the double storey outlet and operating only from the top section, which currently features food and female clothing.

In a Wednesday statement, Woolworths confirmed that their new store will open at the Hemingways Mall “in the near future”.

“In view of this development, Woolworths will soon assess the amount of trading space required by the Vincent Park store.”

Woolworths also pointed out that a final decision has not been made.

Joseph Parsley, manager of the Vincent Park shopping centre, would only say that the centre management would meet with Woolworths.

Asked what the potential impact would be on Vincent Park should one of its anchor tenants cut its trading space of 5800m² by half, Parsley said: “I can't comment on that; it's merely a thought at this stage.

“It has not been confirmed and nothing has been discussed with Woolworths so we cannot jump to conclusions at this stage.”

Woolworths has been expanding in the city after opening a new store in the Mdantsane Mall this year in addition to the Vincent Park and East London city centre stores.

Last week, however, the retailer reported a 10% drop in earnings for the year to June due to the current economic downturn.

Since then, it has been cutting back costs.

Some market analysts suggested two years ago that the East London market could only support one regional mall after four developers revealed separate plans to open major malls in the city.

Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook said although the retail market had cooled off this year, there was still some space left for major retailers if they aimed to improve their service offerings or go for an unexploited area.

“It would be interesting to see how figures for 2006 compare with this year.

“There's plenty of space and there is plenty of opportunities.

“But the first challenge for opening other stores in the city, you would need to consider a niche. If East London is used for post-season merchandise it is never going to work.

“Woolworths is very astute; if they are simply making space for another outlet, it is their choice,” said Holbrook.

Source: Daily Dispatch

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