eBusiness Weekly
Fradreck Gorwe
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)- listed leading clothing and merchandise retailer, Edgars Stores Limited, has a long history dating back to the 1940s in which period retailing in general assumed a quasi- monopolistic structure characterised by few players before some kind of perfect competition in the sector.
Edgars operates two strategic business units of manufacturing and retailing through its three main segments in the name of the Edgars Chain, Jet Chain and Carousel.
Manufacturing is mainly the business of Carousel Private Limited in Bulawayo. The unit produces a wide range of denim, ladies, children and gents casual wear for distribution to the group’s retail divisions as well as to other retailers. Jet and Edgars are exclusively into retailing business.
The first Edgars store on the Zimbabwean soil (then Rhodesia), was built in 1946 under the ownership of Sydney Arnold Press. It was duly registered as a company in 1948 with the inaugural board meeting held on January 18, 1949. Since then the group gained traction in the country as a market leader.
Prior to the establishment in Zimbabwe, the first Edgars department store was opened in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was upon movement to Cape Town that Sydney Press reportedly joined the company as a temporary employee before he gained control of the company in 1946, the year it got listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and subsequently setting foot on the Zimbabwean land.
At its inception the company dealt in women’s attire before it diversified to include men’s and boys’ fashion and ultimately footwear, fabrics and other goods.
The company got listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in 1974. It was then that Edgars acquired Carousel Clothing Company to avoid potential stock-outs that in turn could threaten business sustainability. For the same reason the Jeans company was acquired in 1993.
In 1984, Edgars introduced Express as a new brand with the first Express Mart outlet opened in Harare’s Julius Nyerere way. The outlets were 24 by 1988.
The Jet Chain was born in November 2011 after the rebranding of Express Mart to offer more value and diversity for the customers. The first Jet Store was thus situated at corner Speke Avenue and First Street in Harare before decentralisation to Zvishavane, Gokwe, Chipinge, Kadoma, Chinhoyi, Bindura, and Gwanda. In fact, in November of 2011 alone nine Jet stores were launched in time for the year’s Christmas trading.
In 2011 again, the group opened a new Joina Centre store of courtesy of the Edgars chain with new brands launched that included Ladies Charter Club, Soviet, Levi, Polo, Amali, Free2bu, Faithwear, Jeep, Puma, Hitec, Guess and Lee Cooper.
In April 2014, in the Edgars chain the Club and extended credit was re-launched as a loyalty programme for Edgars account holders in the form of a 12 months to pay option. In July the same year, the group partnered with Eagles Insurance to unveil the Edgars Hospital Cash Insurance plan for its Zimbabwean customers. It was incorporated into the Edgars Club.
The group got the greenlight in March 2019 to use trademarks of its South African shareholder Edcon in exchange for the latter’s increased shareholding from 38 to 41 percent. Edcon’s shareholding was, however, bought by a Mauritius investor, SSCG, in September 2019.
Edgars recently opened a new Jet Store in Banket with further plans to open another one in Chegutu for the 2019 festive season. Another store courtesy of the Edgars chain shall be officially opened in Kadoma on November 29, 2019.
The group is in a healthy status with a market Capitalisation of $52 356 984 and a share price of 16.05 cents as updated on trading date December 3, 2019.
Linda Masterson is the current group managing director.
