Gaborone/Johannesburg — Choppies Enterprises hurt by a commodity-price slump that has led to customers in mining towns being fired, plans to expand its number of stores in southern Africa by almost 25% over the next two years as it seeks to lure business in different locations. Botswana’s biggest supermarket chain was planning to increase outlets to 250 from 203 at the end of last year, said CEO Ram Ottapathu. "We are trying to move away from that reliance" on mining towns, Ottapathu said in an interview this week at the company’s head office in Gaborone. "As the footprint grows, it will not be an issue." The price of platinum, which is mainly mined in SA, slumped 28% in 2015 before only a slight gain, hurting Choppies’ business in towns such as Rustenburg. That has been compounded by soaring food prices following the worst drought since at least 1904. In Botswana, state-owned mining company BCL closed its unprofitable copper and nickel operation in Selebi Phikwe last year, reducing...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.