Department chain Stuttafords has voluntarily submitted itself for business rescue proceedings, it emerged at the weekend. The embattled company has eight department stores and 15 monobrand stores across SA. It employs 950 people. The business rescue plan will be presented in February 2017, following the all-important festive trading season, CEO Robert Amoils said on Saturday. Once the grand dame of SA department stores, the 158-year-old chain has reduced its reliance on high-margin house brands, repositioning instead as a purveyor of global brands, a strategy that has mostly failed as South African shoppers increasingly trade down and shift towards lower-priced products amid SA’s economic malaise. Price points at Stuttafords, which carries labels like Gap, Ted Baker and Tommy Hilfiger, have been escalating as a result of import duties and the devaluation of the rand. This has put off well-heeled consumers, who travel and shop abroad and are au fait with brand positioning. The retail...
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