01 Jun 2014

Shoprite Holdings, on May 30, opened its first outlet in the Kgalagadi District as part of an aggressive expansion drive to increase its footprint in Botswana.

Speaking during the official opening of Shoprite U-Save retail outlet in Kang, the MP for Kgalagadi North, Mr Phillip Khwae, applauded Shoprite for seeing it fitting to service communities that were at some point regarded as remote and rural.

Mr Khwae said the new Shoprite U-Save outlet would not only provide the locals with easy access to fresh products at reasonable prices but also addressed the high unemployment rate in Kang. The outlet has 24 employees, 19 of them locals.

He said the newly opened outlet would reduce the long distance that Kang residents travelled to buy fresh products in Jwaneng or Ghanzi. Mr Khwae said it was pleasing to note that Kang had, over the years, managed to attract investors, which would contribute immensely in upgrading the economic status of the village.

Mr Clint Jackson, Shoprite Botswana’s operational manager, explained that the establishment of the U-Save outlet in Kang was motivated by the desire of the company to reach out to all Batswana, particularly the low-cost market despite their distance from the capital city.

Mr Jackson said U-Save was Shoprite’s newest concept targeting the low cost market and is a no-frills supermarket with a simple business philosophy. Through the U-Save concept, the company saved money wherever possible, which could be passed on in lower prices to customers.

He explained that U-Save benefited from the massive buying power of the Shoprite Group by keeping the company’s own costs as low as possible by not having fancy lighting and fittings in the U-save stores, or expensive shelves.

“U-Save also stocks less products than traditional supermarkets, which means we occupy less space and can control our day-today running costs, such as electricity,” he said. “And we do not run competitions where you can win, because we would rather put the money back into the price of basic foods,” he said.

He said the U-Save outlets were also unique from the upmarket outlets because they offered customers the best prices on a selected range of top selling household brands and also stocked a range of their own affordable labels in selected product categories. Ends