Pepkor

Pepkor is a South African-based investment and holding company focused on the discount and value consumer retail and fintech markets. While the majority of its operations are in South Africa, the company also operates in other African countries and Brazil. It manages retail brands that sell predominantly clothing, footwear, and homeware, in addition to household furniture, appliances, consumer electronics, and building materials.

Pepkor

Industry	Clothing, Retail, Accessories
Founded	1965[1]
Headquarters	Parow, Cape Town , South Africa
Number of locations	5,830 stores (2022)
Area served	Southern Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Brazil
Key people	P J Erasmus (CEO) [2]
Revenue	EUR 4.53 billion [3]
Number of employees	49,700 (2022)
Parent	Ibex Topco B.V. (43.8%)[4]
Subsidiaries	PEP, Ackermans, Dunns, Incredible Connection, Shoe City, Refinery, S.P.C.C, CODE, Tekkie Town, Bradlows, Rochester, Sleepmasters, HiFi Corp, BUCO
Website	pepkor.co.za

Its retail brands include PEP, Ackermans, Shoe City, Dunns, Tekkie Town, Refinery, S.P.C.C, CODE, Bradlows, Rochester, Sleepmasters, Incredible Connection, HiFi Corp, and BUCO. Its fintech operations provide financial and telecommunications services to customers in the formal and informal markets. Its Flash business supports 200,000 small-business traders in the informal market. Pepkor's internally developed PAXI parcel delivery service leverages its expansive retail store footprint.^[5]

History

The company was founded in 1956 by Renier van Rooyen. He opened his first chain store, the start of PEP Reef, in 1978.^[6][7] Formerly known as PEP stores, the company was renamed Pepkor Limited in 1982, with PEP stores becoming a subsidiary.^[1]

In 1998, Pepkor acquired Australian retailer Best & Less.^[8]

In 2011, the private equity company Brait bought a 24.6% stake in Pepkor for R4.18 billion, valuing the company at about R17 billion.^[9]

In 2012, Pepkor purchased the Australian department store chain Harris Scarfe from investment company Momentum Capital.^[10]

In November 2014, Steinhoff International acquired Pepkor for US$5.7 billion.^[11]

Pepkor was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in September 2017.^[12][13]

Pepkor expanded into selling affordable mobile phones and sells 12 million cellular handsets annually.^[14]

In February 2022, Pepkor acquired a majority stake in Brazilian retailer Grupo Avenida, marking the company's first foray into Latin America.^[15]

Subsidiaries

PEP

Main article: Pep (store)

PEP retail stores sell clothing, footwear, textiles, homeware, and cellular products, targeting the lower-end market. The brand focuses on selling items at the lowest possible prices in high volumes in both rural and urban areas. It is Pepkor's largest and first subsidiary, with over 1,500 stores in countries across Southern Africa.^[16][17][18]

Ackermans

Main article: Ackermans

Ackermans sells clothing, footwear, and household textiles to the middle-income market from its 953 stores across South Africa.

Dunns

Dunns sells adult clothing, footwear, and accessories to the middle-income market from its 200 stores across Southern Africa.^[19]

Shoe City

Shoe City sells footwear from 86 stores in South Africa. Like most Pepkor subsidiaries, it targets the mid-market segment, focusing on high-volume, low-price sales.^[20]

Tekkie Town

Main article: Tekkie Town

Tekkie Town is a South African shoe retailer offering a range of shoes, apparel, and accessories for men, women, and children. The retail chain operates 400 stores across South Africa, with most located in Gauteng, the Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. The company also has an online store.^[21]