Stuttafords prepares to close its doors, ending an era in SA retail history
The 159-year-old department store was unable to adapt to changes in global shopping habits, and straitened circumstances for shoppers in SA
Department store Stuttafords, the 159-year-old "Harrods of SA", is in the process of closing down, victim of a global shift to online retail and a domestic economic slump that has put brands such as Ted Baker and Gap beyond its customers’ reach. Mirroring the fortunes of once-mighty department stores in Europe and the US, the doyenne of the South African high street during apartheid and the two decades since, applied for protection from creditors in October last year. However, attempts to revive its fortunes proved futile and creditors voted in June to wind up the unlisted firm by August 1, with closing-down sales at its nine stores in SA, two in Botswana and one in Namibia. In its flagship Sandton store, piles of naked mannequins lay in heaps next to bare shelves as the last few bargain hunters picked through trays of heavily discounted perfumes, make-up and clothes. "We don’t know what’s going to happen — if we will still have jobs," said one employee, who did not want to be named...
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