Clicks last week posted a very natty set of results, outstripping all expectations, even their own, with group turnover up 8.8% to R12.2 billion, retail turnover up 15.4% and turnover at Clicks stores up 17.7%. Profit rose 16% to R472 million, with operating margin up 0.5% to 5.8%. Mr Kneale attributes this success to the resilience of the drugstore model under tough conditions, while certain admiring analysts have remarked on the general defensiveness of the Clicks position and the new efficiency with which the operation is being run. In the next while, Clicks intends spending some of this lucre on new stores (20-30) and new pharmacies to existing stores (30-40), with capex of R225 million planned for the new financial year.

Comment: And in a nod to the old carbon footprint, the results presentation was broadcast on Summit, something larger retailers would do well to emulate.

Shoprite is closing one of its underperforming stores in Dar es Salaam, despite an apparent commitment to growing in the tricky Tanzanian market, where it is difficult to achieve the critical mass necessary for profitability. Shoprite has closed four stores since entering Tanzania in 2001, two of them this year, and currently has only two stores in Dar es Salaam and one in Arusha, sparking (unconfirmed) fears in Tanzania that the Big Red One is in the process of winding up operations there. Last year, Shoprite had labour problems in Tanzania, and is battling with competition from purveyors of counterfeit goods, and shrinkage.

Comment: Shoprite is not the sort of retailer that would take declining profitability and a recalcitrant workforce lying down. At what point would a strategic retreat from this ungrateful adolescent of a country be in order?

...and Walmart, apparently stalking the otherwise peaceful glades of South African retail, looking for someone to buy. Pick n Pay, which by its own admission has had talks with the elusive beast when its representatives visited in February, has suggested helpfully that they may be interested in Massmart, but would probably wait another five years before making their foray to these shores, with an eye on the potentially lucrative markets of Africa. And by the way, it’s possible that German hard discounter Aldi may have acquired two sites here already – but private label geezers that they are, have not felt obliged to talk to any suppliers about this. Pick n Pay themselves, in the meantime, are sitting on three sites in Zambia, one of which they plan to open for trade in 2010.

Comment: The supposition has been that in the scramble for Africa, it was game over in Shoprite’s favour. But the race is not always to the swift...

It’s that time of year again, when all the little ones start rehearsing their nativity plays, and Pick n Pay and Shoprite dust off the old market share drama:

Scene: A Blasted Conference Venue
Enter Basson and Badminton, a pair of Chief Executives

Basson: Behold, gentlemen, my market share, for it is the finest in all the kingdom.
Badminton: You cad, Sir! Your market share is nothing but hogwash, hogwash I say! Mine is the true market share, vouchsafed me by the great wizard Nielsen, high in his mysterious Tower of Numbers.
Basson: That is indeed a large market share, but is it........profitable?
Badminton: This is too much! Your market share is just plain wrong...

A puff of smoke in a tasteful corporate blue.

The Great Wizard Nielsen: Enough! Enough I say! In my Tower of Numbers, I have divined that the market share of Badminton has ascended mightily this twelve-month to 33.3%, while the Pretender Basson is swift on its tail at 30.8%!

Comment: Of interest, of course, are the numbers for August and September:

Acquisitive chicken chaps Country Bird are edging closer to a deal with Sovereign Foods, after talks of a merger between Sovereign and Afgri ended in tears. A merger would result in impressive economies of scale and put the combined business third in size behind Rainbow and Astral. Sovereign has just completed a three-year, R700 million expansion programme, which enables it to process 60 million little chickadees per annum. Country Bird which has a domestic market share of around 10% compared with Rainbow and Astral’s 26-28% apiece, is eyeing Africa for growth, having established itself firmly in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia, and looking at Mozambique, Tanzania and especially Zim.

Comment: The chicken wars of 2011 are shaping up to be quite the humdinger.

Distinguished tobacco gentleman Johann Rupert has uttered stern imprecations against the bickering between KWV and Distell, in which Remgro holds a stake – and of which until its recent restructuring, KWV owned 15%. You ou’s must make nice, he said, and work together to build the industry in these tough times. KWV’s restructuring involved the Distell stake being hived off into an entity called Capevin Investments. Shareholders have muttered about the performance of Capevin, which is trading at a 27% discount to its Distell holding. Perhaps nervously considering the recent travails of the bread and milk boys, Thys Loubser, CEO of KWV, hastened to clarify Mr Rupert’s suggestion at the recent KWV AGM, saying that while the relationship between KWV and Distell was “very professional and friendly” there was “not one whisper of collusion” between them.

Comment: Labyrinthine and intriguing stuff, best savoured with a snifter of KWV’s finest, in the company of friends, of course.

Industry mag Logistics News has awarded its inaugural Enviro Achiever Award to Imperial Logistics for its “contribution to environmental initiatives for the research and analysis of transport environmental issues”, a bit of a mouthful admittedly, but sterling stuff. The research in question was conducted by Imperial, Cardiff University, CSIR, Fast ‘n Fresh and Woolies, with a view to reducing “empty miles” and carbon emissions relating to food costs in the Woolies supply chain. The study focused on the research of uncertainties in the supply chain and the environmental and economic effect of these.

Comment: Better men than we have remarked that there is R3 billion to be had in improving efficiencies in the grocery supply chain. Nice to see Imperial doing something about it, and greening things up a bit at the same time.

The bearded sages of Old Mutual have predicted that after contractions of 6.4% and 3% in the first and second quarters respectively, growth was likely to return in the third quarter, to the tune of a mingy 2%. But don’t thank Bob and Jane Consumer for that – while consumer demand remains weak, string government demand, improved exports and the inventory cycle are the heroes here. The stronger rand has also helped, keeping inflation in check, as has the current account deficit, up to 3% after hitting 8% of GDP in ’08. Retail sales, you will recall, have hit a low of -7% for August, while new vehicle sales are spluttering at the -8.8% mark for September. Consumer credit is down by 0.9% for the third quarter too, despite our best efforts over at Tatler Towers.

Comment: Don’t knock Mr Nzimande’s nice new car. He’s only doing his bit for government demand, and vehicle sales.

The strapped South African punter is doing the right thing and paying back all the cash he (or indeed she) spent on Tag Heuer watches and spanking new VW Polo’s during the heady years of the recent boom – to the tune of R40 billion in February, R97 billion in August and R107 billion in September, according to the kindly souls over at Consumer Assist, SA’s premier debt counselling outfit. Interestingly, they tell us, men account for 58.1% of their clients, and women only 41.88%, which probably says more about the cost of a brand new set of clubs on tick than any fundamental difference between the genders. 10 000 people are now applying for counselling per month, up from 7 000 last quarter, and there’s been an increase in the number of R700 grand a year fellas wanting to hold onto their second home in Knysna.

Comment: We at the Tatler can’t even get our brother-in-law to pay back the cooler box he borrowed 15 years ago.

What’s the right term these days for this great industry of ours? Fast Moving Consumer Goods? So ‘90’s, and a bit on the wishful side in these dark times. Consumer Packaged Goods? It sounds like it’s the consumer doing the packaging, if you get our meaning. The Consumer Products (CP) Industry? Wasn’t that the evil multinational in Robocop? Any ideas? Let’s create a new standard and stick to it people. The Fast Moving Consumer Packaged Products (FMCPP) Industry has a certain ring to it. Mail us here with your thoughts, and a bottle of something from KWV, or indeed Distell, could be yours...

Tesco has opened the UK-first entirely self-service store, with a total of five self-scan tills, but no manned checkouts, overseen by a lone Chelsea pensioner or retired WAAF. It is designed to increase efficiency and speed up the shopping process, although some detractors have pointed out that 750 000 Britons currently earn their crust by chewing gum and being sullen in the aisles and at the tills.

Walmart are recruiting a team of managers and buyers to beef up the talent in its Neighbourhood Markets, of which there are now 150, each just a quarter of the size of the Large One’s 2 700 Supercentres. Previously, they were using the Supercentres people, with the result that they resembled small big box stores in their approach to merchandising.