450th The Crazy Store opens

Image supplied. The Crazy Store has opened its 450th store in Gqeberha at the Boardwalk Mall in Summerstrand.

In addition to the new store in Gqeberha, The Crazy Store also opened six more stores at the following locations during September: Hayfields (Pietermartizburg), Dorandia (Pretoria), Sabie, Greenfields (East London), Port Alfred and Witbank.

“The 450th store was a goal we set for the business and to see this target become a reality, and in an important area for us, is a reason to celebrate,” says Kevin Lennett, The Crazy Store’s MD.

Lennett has been at the helm for 10 of the business’s 25 years and has seen the business’s vision of expanding its footprint become a reality.

The Crazy Store MD reflects on 10 years with the retailer

9 Jun 2022

The opening of the store takes the business’s total retail space to a whopping 104,788.55m², and the warehouse space for all warehouses combined (Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha and Johannesburg) is 62 423m².

There’s also a staff contingent of just over 2,100 people which will continue to increase as new stores are opened.

“We often talk about the relationship our staff have with our customers, many have formed friendships, and that’s testament to the culture of the business,” says Lennett.

“We are a family and if you visit a store, you will experience that too,” he adds.

The team goes through 5-star customer service training programmes to prioritise client service and understand the product lines. “Fortunately for us, it comes naturally to everyone we’ve hired,” comments Lennett.

Gqeberha's Boardwalk Mall opens

23 Sep 2022

A mature in-store experience

As the brand has grown, the in-store experience has matured.

“The Crazy Store will continue to focus on the look and feel of its stores, with strong yellow and blue colours reflecting our corporate identity, as well as a happy and positive in-store environment. A focus on uncluttered and spacious aisles, logical layouts and our stores are set up to help customers find what they’re looking for easily,” says Lennett.

It's not only the store experience that has evolved but also The Crazy Store’s marketing.

A single-page leaflet was in the past used to showcase the selection of products and this has evolved to become a 2 to 4-page monthly catalogue, with peak season in December, when a 32-page Festive Season shopping guide and a 28-page Toy catalogue with activities for children can be expected.

The Crazy Store logo has remained a timeless design and has only gone through slight tweaks here and there to keep it looking fresh, and the Duck mascot that customers have come to know and love will continue to fill its spot in the limelight too.

Lennett says as the needs of their customers change, so does their product offering.

“In a years’ time I imagine I could be discussing a new department and new products because when we say, ‘You never know what you might find’, it’s our mission to stock the product before you know you need it.

“And I could be telling you this at our 600th store because that’s our next goal and we want our existing and new customers to join us on this journey,” says Lennett