Walmart-controlled South African retail group Massmart Group, whose assets include Makro, Game and DionWired, warned on Monday that it’s likely to close a range of stores affecting the jobs of nearly 1 500 employees.
A total of 34 DionWired and Masscash stores are “potentially affected” by this process, which could see about 1 440 positions become redundant. It did not say how many DionWired stores would be affected by the cuts or closures.
Masscash consists of wholesale and retail businesses largely targeting lower LSM consumers. DionWired, meanwhile, is one of South Africa’s largest electronics retailers, selling everything from televisions to smartphones and computers.
Massmart, which has underperformed the retail sector for several years, said it recently conducted a “store optimisation project that highlighted a number of underperforming stores in its portfolio”.
“Massmart has commenced a potential store closure consultation process in terms of section 189 and section 189A of the Labour Relations Act with organised labour and other relevant stakeholders,” it said.
The store closures and retrenchments come four months after Walmart executive Mitchell Slape took the reins at the embattled group from former CEO Guy Hayward.
Massmart shares were trading 1.9% higher at 10.30am in Johannesburg. The company has lost 56.4% of its value in the past year. Over five years, it’s down 68.2%. — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media