Edgars Consolidated Stores Ltd. - Introduction

Introduction

PO Box 100
Crown Mines
2025
South Africa
Telephone: +27 11 495 6000
Fax: +27 11 837 5019
Web site: http://www.edcon.co.za

Public Company
Incorporated: 1929
Employees: 10,766
Sales: ZAR 10.53 billion ($1.87 billion) (2004)
Stock Exchanges: Johannesburg
Ticker Symbol: EDCON
NAIC: 452111 Department Stores (Except Discount Department Stores); 452990 All Other General Merchandise Stores

Edgars Consolidated Stores Ltd. (Edcon) is South Africa's leading retail group. The Johannesburg-based company operates more than 650 stores under a variety of fascia throughout southern Africa, including South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Namibia. Clothing retail is the company's main focus, accounting for some 85 percent of its total revenues of ZAR 10.53 billion (US $1.87 billion) in 2004. The company's Edgars department store chain offers a full range of men's, women's and children's clothing, footwear, and accessories, as well as cosmetics and related department store items at 151 locations. Generally located in shopping malls, the Edgars chain also includes the operation of Red Square cosmetics boutiques and Accessoreyes sunglasses boutiques as stand-alone shops and in-store corner shops. Edcon's other major operation is its United Retail fashion clothing division, which serves as the logistics and administrative arm for the company's Jet Stores, Cuthberts, Sales House, and Legit store formats. Originally operated as independent entities, the United Retail formats also have been bundled into a growing chain of multi-brand shops since the early 2000s. The company also operates the 12-store ABC footwear chain. Together, United Retail and Edgars give Edcon control of nearly one-third of southern Africa's retail clothing market. With future growth in this area limited—in large part because of anti-competition concerns—Edcon has begun exploring new retail formats to take it forward into the new century. In 2002, the company acquired general merchandise discount store format Super Mart, which operates at nearly 25 locations. Edcon plans to rebrand the stores as Jet Mart and rapidly expand the chain on a national and regional level. Also in 2002, Edcon acquired CNA, South Africa's leading newsstand and bookstore retailer, with 186 stores, featuring books, magazines, newspapers, stationery, audio visual products, greeting cards, and the like. In 2004, Edcon moved into house-wares and home furnishings with the acquisition of the Boardmans homestore chain, which operates 25 stores in South Africa. American-born Steve Ross holds the company's CEO spot. Edcon trades on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.