Massmart battles one of the worst retail environments yet in SA
The retailer has struggled in the South African market, which accounts for 91.6% of Massmart’s total sale
Massmart, which is 51% owned by US giant Walmart, is battling one of the worst retail environments yet it has seen in SA, chair Kuseni Dlamini says. “The environment is very challenging from a retail perspective. It’s one of the worst retail environments we’ve seen in many years,” Dlamini told Business Day on the sidelines of the African Investment Forum last week. The retailer has struggled in the South African market, which accounts for 91.6% of Massmart’s total sales. Since Walmart acquired its majority stake on June 20 2011, Massmart has lost about 24% of its share price value. “We need the economy to grow, we need more jobs to be created, we need more consumer confidence, we need more investor confidence in our country and we need to attract investment. Those are the key levers in our country that we need to unlock,” he said. SA fell into a recession for the first time since the global financial crisis in the first two quarters of 2018. The retail sector, which was also in a re...
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