Retail group Truworths will spend R548m as it looks to increase its trading space, including new concept stand-alone stores for some of its popular brands.
For the 2026 financial year, the owner of Identity, YDE, Earthchild, Loads of Living and Naartjie wants to expand its group trading space by 3% and add more stores for Daniel Hetcher, which has one stand-alone store, and also Ginger Mary, which also has a single stand-alone store.
There is a lot of work on this as a real estate opportunity ... taking some of our brands that are long established ... and creating speciality mini stores or mini emporiums
— Michael Mark, Truworths CEO
“There is a lot of work on this as a real estate opportunity ... taking some of our brands that are long established ... and creating speciality mini stores or mini emporiums,” said CEO Michael Mark.
He said the company wanted to have “more elevated stand-alone stores” for Daniel Hechter, which has been in stores for 40 years, and Ginger Mary, which Truworths created more than 15 years ago and has become a “nice big business for us now”.
“There's now an opportunity in our mind to roll that out [Ginger Mary] as a concept — shoes, accessories, homewares and so on,” said Mark.
Other brands include Fuel and Moskow. “They're sort of street,” said Mark. “So there's a plan to make a sort of headway with those. So those four concepts are able to be expanded as we feel more ambitious about real estate, and about things improving. We already sell this merchandise in our stores, but it's just being much more aggressive and having stand-alone concepts.”
During the financial year to June, Truworths Africa opened 22 stores but closed 14. It ended the financial year with 810 stores, while the UK fashion footwear chain Office was sitting at 87. Of the budgeted capital expenditure, Truworths Africa will spend R300m while Office UK will receive £10.1m (about R241m).
In the year to June, Truworths increased group retail sales by 2.7% to R22bn, lifted by another strong performance by Office. Mark said Office delivered another strong performance despite subdued retail spending in the UK. Sales increased by 9.7% to £319m, boosted by store expansion and a “modernisation programme, strong brand partnerships, and a well-established e-commerce platform.”
Retail sales at Truworths Africa were 0.4% lower at R14.4bn, with credit sales increasing by 0.1%, and cash sales decreasing by 1.5%. Online sales were a standout performer, rising 33.7% and contributing 6.5% of Truworths’ retail sales. Mark said online sales now accounted for 20% of the group’s retail sales.
After year-end, group retail sales for the first seven weeks of the 2026 financial period decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous period. The group’s gross profit for the same period was “marginally positive, despite the level sales performance, due to lower end-of-season promotional activity”.
Mark said ongoing uncertainty and volatility in global markets continued to weigh on South Africa’s economy and currency, stalling the prospects for a sustained economic recovery. “Consumer discretionary spending is expected to remain under pressure, despite lower inflation and interest rates. However, we are confident retail spending will recover over the medium term.”
He said trading conditions in the UK were also likely to remain challenging due to slowing consumer spending, higher living costs and rising inflation.
Truworths completed its R1bn distribution centre near Cape Town International Airport, and is already handling a large portion of merchandise distribution. It will be fully operational by the end of the third quarter this year.
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