GEORGE NEWS - Tekkie Town, acquired by Steinhoff International in November last year, is to be listed on the JSE on 20 September as part of Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star), a new, independent company that consists of all Steinhoff's Africa businesses.
Star has its own board of directors and management team and includes 17 retail brands, amongst others Pep, Ackermans, Incredible Connection, Shoe City and Buco.
Tekkie Town CEO Bernard Mostert confirmed on Monday that any restructuring that may result from Star's listing, will not affect the location of Tekkie Town's head-office in George.
Mostert has been promoted to CEO of the group's speciality fashion and footwear division that includes Tekkie Town, Shoe City, Refinery, John Craig and Dunns.
Braam van Huyssteen, founder and chairperson of Tekkie Town, has been appointed as chairperson of the Star properties division. Since Steinhoff's investment in Tekkie Town in 2016, Tekkie Town has managed to open 53 new retail stores in Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa.
According to Mostert, the first shops in Botswana are expected to open later this year through a joint venture with sister brand, Dunns.
"The Speciality Fashion and Footwear division now has more than 800 stores with just over 6 200 employees.
"Although there are also offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the head-office of Tekkie Town will remain in George," said Mostert.
The huge Tekkie Town campus in George industria now includes offices, two distribution centres, a factory store, the Sole Café Cafeteria, Crossfit Wings and an after-school homework centre where employees' children are tutored and their school homework completed.
"The Speciality division is regarded as a high-growth cluster for Star and as a result it is envisaged that as its strategy is rolled out, numerous jobs will be created nationally," says Mostert.
"While Tekkie Town will remain in George we have excellent talent across the group nationally and in being part of Star, we will be able to attract the best of the breed in retail to join our national team.
"A good example of this talent development is the fact that Tekkie Town's head of human resources, Landezwa Dulase, is currently attending Steinhoff's Global HR Leadership Conference in Paris, France."
The Star group has more than 4 800 stores and more than 43 000 employees in 12 African countries.
It contributes 19% of revenue to that of Steinhoff International. According to an internal communication sent out by Steinhoff, Star "will remain an integral part of the global Steinhoff family, who, with its scale and support, will continue to add value to the African operations".
ARTICLE & PHOTO: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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