PnP hypermarket plan

More attractive shelves is one way to revitalise concept.

Pick n Pay hypermarkets used to be a massive deal, especially in the 1980s when founder Raymond Ackerman took the fight to government over selling discounted fuel at these stores (a trend that still exists today in markets such as the US and UK).

These were big-box stores, the likes of which South African shoppers had simply not seen before. These stores faded in prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the shopping occasion changed from one where a family did a large monthly shop to one premised on convenience.

Fast forward to 2024 - four decades later-and things are very different.

It didn't help that the entire proposition of hypers became diluted. Pick n Pay CEO Sean Summers admits that they became nothing more than large versions of the group's supermarkets.

This meant they offered mostly the same range of stock as a typical Pick n Pay store, with a few bulk items added, along with apparel and general merchandise (electronics, tools, garden equipment, sporting goods).