Choppies eyes more stores in SA

Choppies Enterprise Limited is set to acquire retail stores owned by Jwayelani Retail in Kwazulu Natal and Eastern Cape in South Africa. The dual-listed company has already filed an application with the South African Competition Authority concerning the acquisition of the retail stores.

Jwayelani was initially started as butchery, but moved into convenience store chains with a presence in Durban and Pietermaritzburg as well as smaller centres such as Pinetown, Empangeni, Estcourt, Umzinto and Flagstaff.

The Group currently has 39 stores in South Africa most of them   in the North West Province, some in Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Choppies has filed an application with the Competition Commission of South Africa and the shareholders will be notified when the deal goes through.

The Local leading mass grocery store is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since last year May.The South African market is dominated by large retailers such as Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Spar. Since last year Choppies has been on a mission to intensify its expansion plans having proposed to buy three supermarkets by Ukwala Brand in Kenya.

It currently has stores in Zimbabwe and plans to expand its footprints further into the Sub Saharan Region.