It's official – Boxer Superstores is to be listed on the JSE and the younger, cooler A2X, with proceedings kicking off on the 28th of this month. Those particulars from its pre-listing statement: as part of this IPO, Pick n Pay hopes to raise between R8bn to R8.5bn through an offer of up to 202.4 million Boxer shares – around 40% of its total issued share capital – at a share price of between R42 and R54 per, for a total market cap of between R21.1bn and R24.7bn. Pick n Pay will retain a majority stake in Boxer of approximately 60% to 65% post-IPO. Boxer, you will recall, turned over R37.4bn this FY just past, with trading profit of R2.1bn, and opened its 500th store just last month. “The brand’s success is recognition of how we’ve served our customers, the robust business model we have built and most importantly, our ability to trade successfully against other competitors and formats,” explains CEO Marek Masojada, who was part of the team that negotiated the sale of Boxer to Pick n Pay 22 years ago.

Comment: It’s our prediction that Boxer will one day in the not too distant future eclipse the parent brand, and may be recognised as the quintessential South African retailer: a pioneer in bringing value, services, and dignity to the larger part of our consumer goods market.

“Beauty is truth,” as the poet said. He failed to mention that it was also cold, hard cash, as the parents of any fourteen-year-old daughter could tell you. And indeed as Woolies CEO Roy Bagattini would aver: the segment has absolutely shot the lights out for the business, with +20.6% sales growth for the 18-weeks ending in November, despite the port congestion and product availability challenges experienced earlier in the period. Also, despite fierce competition from the bevy of bargain beauty specialists that have sprung up online. “The proliferation of low-cost online retailers into the SA marketplace has had significant impacts on the retail landscape, driven in part by a lack of regulatory oversight. It is undeniable that the ease with which they were able to access the market highlights local weaknesses,” argues Signore B. Overall, the business experienced sales growth of a more modest +6.5%, while food was up a not-unexpected +12.1% given the dominance Woolies enjoys in high-end comestibles.

Comment: Woolworths has a clear plan to grow its beauty segment, with high-end brands and innovative services now on offer. An excellent channel for suppliers with aspirations in this direction. And if you do have such aspirations, you cannot afford not to have a look at our latest Health and Beauty report right here.

Was SPAR’s recently-concluded Polish adventure doomed from the start, some may ask? The operation it took over, Piotr i Paweł, was a high-end food specialist with a strong deli component, and perhaps not an ideal match for SPAR after all. Let’s contrast SPAR’s outing with that of Pepkor, for example, a humbler endeavour that has enjoyed greater success in that challenging territory. Food for thought indeed. Speaking of the JSE, as we were earlier, Dis-Chem and Clicks have enjoyed improved fortunes there of late, with the share of the former rising 22% so far this year, and the latter 18%. These gains, remark certain gimlet-eyed analysts, are attributable to their expansion and loyalty reward programme strategies, and an improved outlook on inflation and interest rates. Some believe this performance marks the beginning of a general improvement in the fortunes of the retail sector. Finally, Black Friday, which starts awfully early these days, is in full swing, with Massmart reporting that the best sellers so far at Game and Makro include UHD TVs, washing machines (both front and top loading) and air fryers. A Game deal on 2l Cokes also received hon. mench.

Comment: The inexorable rise of air fryers, we strongly believe, represents a big opportunity for manufacturers who might want to invest in specialty products suited for cooking in these humble and inexpensive game-changers.

In the US, retailers are bracing themselves for the implications of another Trump presidency on the bottom line. “The huge downside to retail comes from Trump’s proposals on tariffs,” says Neil Saunders, Managing Director Retail at GlobalData. “While immediate action is unlikely as any new tariffs would take time to implement, the threat of increasing tariffs on China to 60% and on other countries to 10% to 20% would create an enormous headache and add significant additional cost for retail.” He notes that Trump’s now-traditional tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations will be an initial boost for the bigger retailers, although he does not explore the implications for the middle-income consumers who make up most of their shopper base. “A second Trump administration will not collapse retail, nor will it propel it to dizzy heights. It will simply change the gradient of the growth trajectory, and the tonality of the policies retailers need to deal with,” he concludes.

Comment: Great stuff if you love disruption and uncertainty, and still believe in trickle-down economics. The implications of a tariff regime on South African exports to the US, and the future of such beneficial programmes as AGOA are a big unknown for us.

Adding spice to the notoriously stodgy British palate is Libstar, whose Cape Herbs & Spice brand is being launched in 500 Tescos across that sodden archipelago. The business has had its eye on the UK market for nigh on two decades, and has seen an impressive 50% growth in export markets this year alone, with the UK overtaking South Africa as the brand’s biggest geography. “Our products are the perfect fit for markets like the UK, where there's a healthy demand for authentic seasonings and really high-quality ingredients,” explains Shelley Barnard, Sales and Marketing Executive at Cape Herb & Spice. Cape Herb & Spice was first sampled locally by the wife of a big UK distributor holidaying in the Beloved Country. Today, the brand has made headway by featuring on online retailer Ocado, as well as the shelves of Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, and now Tesco UK with a Tesco Ireland launch coming in a few months. The brand was established 30 years ago by Irene Ivy-Schuurmans, who initially sold products from a barrow in the V&A Waterfront.

Comment: This is the best of who we are – ingenious, hardworking, with a disproportionate footprint on the global stage. Other South African brands should watch and learn.

The local beverages industry is, ahem, abuzz this week with the launch of the Focus Shot by Sir Juice, a concoction of apple and cherry cold-pressed juices, cacao, vanilla extract, and natural stimulant Lion’s Mane mushroom, aimed at students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and sportsmen, and anyone else who needs a little something something to get them focused and energised for the fray. “This is an already competitive market and we wanted to provide a healthier alternative that also tastes amazing,” says brand manager Chipasha Mubanga. Staying with the potable, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) has invested $50m in a new bottling line in Namibia, capable of producing 27,000 bottles per hour. This upgrade will increase the plant’s output capacity by 30% and stimulate growth throughout the company’s value chain. Finally, the National Beverage of better-heeled South Africans, Johnnie Walker Blue, is launching a new variant, the ‘Ice Chalet’ blend, which reveals (and we quote) “cinnamon-spiced apple notes, warm cloves and spices before finishing with subtle hints of Alpine smoke, evoking a sense of high-altitude refinement.”

Comment: Something you may want to know, if (see three stories up) you had invested in some Clicks and Dis-Chem shares, a year ago.

One GNU and eight months of uninterrupted electricity later, and South Africa’s investment status is still junk in the eyes of the ratings agencies. S&P Global are set to review our status (which at BB- is three notches below investment grade) on Friday, but nobody’s holding out much hope. At issue are certain ongoing fiscal challenges, including rising public debt and slow economic growth. GDP is slated to increase just +1.1% this year, and our debt-to-GDP ratio has soared majestically from 23.6% in 2009 to 74.1% in 2023. If the GNU achieves the objectives of its three-year economic plan, says rating agency Fitch, it may consider giving us a fair shout. But it reckons our budget forecasts are overly optimistic and will need greater GDP growth and fiscal discipline than we’ve shown ourselves capable of this last decade and more.

Comment: Seems like it’s the naughty corner for us, for a while longer. But hope is glimmering more brilliantly than it has for a while.