It's mid-January and a saleswoman at an MRP store in Johannesburg is marking down items in the men's section. Printed chino shorts, which were selling for R159.99 a month ago, are now retailing at R120. "The pricing is too high, it's not Mr Price [rebranded as MRP in 2015]. When you look at our history when it comes to pricing, we are very reasonable, but customers would rather buy better quality at Cotton On than get a R200-something jeans at MRP," said the saleswoman, who did not want to be named. Mr Price Group shareholders felt déjà vu when the stock fell almost 5% on Tuesday, following a trading update showing poor sales performance during the all-important Christmas season. Last year, when the group released its quarterly results in January (as opposed to a trading update), the stock tumbled nearly 18% . The stock has plunged 46% off its all-time high reached in March 2015. It seems that issues on the shop floor are not making their way to head office. "Before they [head offic...
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