Edgars on the comeback trail

Edgars is set to reopen its store in the Johannesburg central business district (CBD) within JSE-listed SA Corporate Real Estate Fund’s revamped 55 Pritchard Street building.

Both SA Corporate chief executive Rory Mackey and Retailability CEO Norman Drieselmann confirmed this to Moneyweb in response to queries.

Durban-based Retailability last week concluded its purchase of the Edgars chain in SA from embattled Edcon as part of a business rescue process.

“The new Edgars owners have committed to reopening the Edgars store in our building in the Johannesburg CBD,” Mackey said during SA Corporate’s recent interim results webcast presentation.

“The redevelopment of the building is continuing, with Shoprite set to open on the ground floor shortly, but Edgars is still part of the plans and will reopen,” he added. “Retailability [management] has said that they wish to retain part of the premises there [which was part of Edcon’s plan last year].”

The two-floor Pritchard Street store was closed last year in order to be revamped and downsized to a third of its size as part of Edcon’s broader turnaround plans under CEO Grant Pattison.

According to Edcon insiders, the store was set to open in April, but the plan was scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic and then Edcon’s business rescue process.

“We are going ahead with the Edgars Johannesburg CBD store plan,” Drieselmann told Moneyweb. “We wish we could open sooner, but there is still a bit of building work under way due to a combination of delays linked to the business rescue and Covid-19 impact.

“As a mass-market retail chain, Edgars must have a presence in major CBDs… We are committed to the Johannesburg CBD and will continue to service this important market through the redevelopment and right-sizing of our Edgars store.”

Before its coronavirus-induced business rescue process, Edcon had downsized or closed dozens of Edgars, Jet and Boardmans stores across the country.

Its expansive Edgars store in the Durban inner city, located in a landmark property owned by JSE-listed Fortress Income Fund, became one of the high-profile CBD casualties last year

Fortress recently said the property, which is still largely vacant, is up for sale.

Pattison said at the time that Edcon was looking to still have a presence in the Durban CBD, but in a smaller retail space (the old Edgars store took up two floors).

It seems the new owner shares this view, with Drieselmann confirming that Retailability is “speaking to a few local landlords” in Durban about taking up space again in the CBD.

Edcon’s deal with Retailability sees the fashion retailer and a holding company secure 120 Edgars stores countrywide, while around 5 200 jobs will be saved. The purchase price has not been disclosed as Retailability is not listed.

Retailability already had more than 460 stores across SA, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and eSwatini, trading under its Legit, Beaver Canoe and Style retail chains.

It purchased Legit from Edcon back in 2017 for R637 million.

It is likely the Edgars deal was a bargain due to Edcon’s business rescue process. The former retail giant is effectively being split up and sold off. Its Jet chain was sold to TFG two months ago.

This article first appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission.

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