Shoprite has answered South Africa's stubbornly weak consumer climate with a building spree, opening 268 new stores in the first half of its 2026 financial year and pouring R3.9 billion into the expansion. The country's biggest retailer and largest private employer comfortably overshot its target of 223 openings, reaching the mark in just 11 months.
Where the growth went
The bulk of the new outlets came from Shoprite's core grocery business, but its newer "adjacent" brands are growing fastest. The group opened 48 Usave stores, 41 Shoprite supermarkets, 30 Checkers supermarkets and a hefty 92 LiquorShops, alongside 38 Petshop Science stores, 13 UNIQ clothing shops and a handful of others.
Petshop Science, launched in 2021 to tap a growing local pet economy, beat its rollout plan by 65%, while the UNIQ clothing brand more than doubled its target. Gauteng led the charge with 82 new stores, followed by the Western Cape with 48 and KwaZulu-Natal with 31 — together nearly 60% of all openings. The push also reinforced Shoprite's standing as the country's biggest private employer, with a workforce now north of 170,000.
Expanding while rivals retreat
The aggression stands in sharp contrast to its main competitors. Pick n Pay has spent two years on a store-reset programme, closing non-performing outlets for a net reduction of 56 stores during its 2026 financial year, even as Pick n Pay Clothing kept growing. SPAR, meanwhile, has been pulling out of international markets, including the UK, to refocus on home turf after a bruising six months.
For Business Bagel readers, the takeaway is simple: in a low-growth economy, scale and capital are fast becoming the dividing line between the retailers that press ahead and those forced to consolidate.
Compiled by Business Bagel from reporting by BusinessTech.
