Pick n Pay plans to open seven new stores in South Africa this year as it moves beyond a period of closures and conversions of underperforming outlets and continues its turnaround strategy.
The group currently operates 1,538 stores in South Africa across clothing, liquor and hyper/supermarkets. Of these, 950 are company-owned while 588 are franchised. In total it has 2,261 stores including 576 under subsidiary Boxer, and operations in Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana and Zambia.
Over the past two years, Pick n Pay has been closing loss-making company-owned stores and converting some into its Boxer brand as part of efforts to restore profitability.
CEO Sean Summers said the store reset was largely concluded in the financial year to March 2026, with the focus now shifting to selective expansion. He added that the company continued to make progress with its turnaround objective of “driving improved like-for-like sales growth in profitable stores and those with reasonable prospects of achieving profitability, while closing or converting those with limited opportunity for recovery.”
Pick n Pay said it has delivered improvements in store standards, product availability and range, particularly in fresh categories. Progress has also been made on key priorities including improving support office efficiencies and optimising the supply chain, supported by a materially improved logistics contract and enhanced marketing initiatives.
We have a clear path to sustainability, driven by ongoing incremental gains, and remain confident that the initiatives we have put in place are starting to bear fruit as we rebuild a stronger, more competitive Pick n Pay for the long term.
— CEO Sean Summers
“Our store estate reset is effectively behind us, and we have achieved some of the key milestones we set ourselves. The positive customer feedback we are receiving is very encouraging,” Summers said.
For the 52 weeks to March 1 2026, Pick n Pay reported a 1% increase in turnover to R120.3bn, while its headline loss narrowed to R386m from R408m. Trading profit declined 4.2% to R1.68bn.
Summers said the turnaround strategy remained firmly on track, supported by improving top-line growth, renewed operational discipline and careful cash management.
“We continue to see encouraging progress across the business, but the challenges facing Pick n Pay developed over an extended period. Rebuilding the business into a leading supermarket retailer will take time, disciplined execution and difficult but necessary decisions,” he said.
He warned that market conditions could add pressure in the coming period, with higher diesel prices driving inflation and squeezing already strained consumers. “However, this is affecting the entire retail sector, not just us, and it is our job to control the controllables,” he said.
Encouragingly, in the nine weeks after the period-end, Pick n Pay’s South African supermarkets recorded slightly stronger like-for-like sales growth than in FY2026.
“We have a clear path to sustainability, driven by ongoing incremental gains, and remain confident that the initiatives we have put in place are starting to bear fruit as we rebuild a stronger, more competitive Pick n Pay for the long term,” Summers said.
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