Edcon’s store-culling to hit malls
The retail group’s restructuring efforts could place further strain on already struggling shopping centres
SA mall owners are bracing themselves for a sharp rise in vacancies because of the possibility of the Edcon group slashing its retail footprint by up to 500,000m² — a third of its existing space. That’s more than three times the size of Sandton City, one of SA’s largest malls at 147,940m². As it stands, Edcon occupies around 1.5mm² through its Edgars, Jet, CNA and Boardmans brands, making it one of SA’s largest occupiers of retail space. Redefine Properties chief operating officer David Rice said at the company’s interim results presentation last week that Edcon would vacate around 20,000m² in Redefine’s retail portfolio this year. Redefine is one of SA’s largest landlords and owns 80 retail centres across SA, including Centurion Mall and Maponya Mall in Gauteng and Blue Route Mall and Kenilworth Centre in Cape Town. Rice said the market expected Edcon to reduce its SA footprint by a third, potentially closing up to 500,000m² of retail space as leases come up for renewal. That would...
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