Shoprite snaps up even more of P&P sites

Nick Wilson - South Africa's largest retailer Shoprite has launched three new supermarkets under its namesake brand at former Pick n Pay sites in Gauteng.

In an interesting twist, one of the sites at Aero Centre at Bonaero Park is owned by Bolero Properties, which is associated with John A Baladakis, the former Pick n Pay franchisee who was at the centre of a legal battle with Pick n Pay earlier this year.

It also follows Shoprite opening eight new supermarkets – seven under its Checkers brand and one under its namesake brand – at former Pick n Pay sites on the East Rand earlier this year.



AJP Properties

The leasing deals for the eight sites in question were concluded with AJP Properties, which is also associated with Baladakis.

AJP Properties told News24 that Shoprite had signed a lease agreement for a "large retail space" at Bonaero Park.

Contacted for comment, Shoprite, which has 2 676 stores in South Africa, noted that apart from the Aero Centre transaction, it had signed leases for new Shoprite supermarkets at Carlton Centre and Sharon Park Shopping Centre with Transnet and Stand 278 Strydom Park respectively.

It said the Shoprite Sharon Park in Nigel was due to open on Thursday, with Shoprite Bonaero Park scheduled for opening on Friday.

Shoprite Carlton Centre, which opened last Thursday, was the 150th Shoprite store to open in Gauteng, it added.



Strategy

Pick n Pay confirmed it had operated from the sites previously, indicating to News24 its exit from these sites were part of its store-reset strategy, which has seen the retailer close unprofitable corporate stores and refurbish or convert others to Pick n Pay franchises and Boxer stores.

"The Pick n Pay store re-set programme is a key element of our turnaround plan and has already been widely publicised. A number of stores will be either refurbished, converted to a Boxer or Pick n Pay franchise store, or closed over the next few years, as Pick n Pay improves the overall quality of its estate," it said.

Pick n Pay noted, however, that it would continue to open new stores in new locations.

"The reasons behind each conversion or closure will differ from store to store but will be in the best interests of the Pick n Pay turnaround."



Problematic

In late October, Pick n Pay, which currently has over 2 200 stores in its portfolio, including over 1 000 company-owned stores, said it would look to get smaller before it got bigger again.

To this end, Pick n Pay had identified a total of 100 corporate stores deemed to be problematic, with CEO Sean Summers saying that ultimately only a maximum 25 to 30 of these would be closed next year.

One high-profile store that has closed for good is the Pick n Pay at Hyde Park Corner in Johannesburg, which is owned by Hyprop Investments, with Checkers taking over the site.



Battle

The battle between Baladakis and Pick n Pay became public knowledge in February this year, with News24 reporting in April how Shoprite had signed deals to take over the sites of the eight Pick n Pay stores.

The stores in question had been Pick n Pay franchise stores, but all that changed at the end of February after Pick n Pay won a case it brought against Baladakis in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.

At the same time, Pick n Pay also launched liquidation proceedings against Baladakis to gain control of stores due to the continued accumulation of overdue debt, which it said had reached R224 million.

Baladakis' AJP Group then launched an appeal against this ruling.

The two parties have appeared to reach a settlement. As the owner of the eight property sites that previously housed the Pick n Pay businesses, Baladakis negotiated lease agreements with Shoprite, which is widely considered to be Pick n Pay's biggest rival. - Fin24