Foschini to Shut About 280 African Stores by 2029 as Shoppers Click, Not Queue

What changed and what is closing

Foschini said Wednesday it is tightening its store network in Africa, targeting about 280 closures through 2029 as shoppers migrate online. In the 21 weeks ended Aug. 22, it closed 85 outlets it no longer saw as viable. For the fiscal year ending in March, about 80 stores fall within its closure parameters, with a further 100 exits under consideration in each of the next two years.

The sales picture behind the pivot

In that same 21‑week stretch, sales at physical stores in Africa were nearly flat, up 0.2%, while e‑commerce revenue surged 54%. Bash, the group's e‑commerce hub featuring Sportscene, Totalsports, Markham, Fabiani, @home, American Swiss and Exact, is doing the heavy lifting. Across the group, online now makes up almost 16% of total sales, up from about 14% a year earlier.

Strategy and the retail backdrop

Headquartered in Cape Town with operations in the UK and Australia, Foschini cast the reset against a tougher backdrop. "Globally, the consumer is expected to remain under pressure in the near term," it said, adding it will maintain "a disciplined approach to credit extension and space optimization, while continuing to focus on growing online penetration." In South Africa, its largest market, economic growth has averaged under 1% a year for more than a decade, and high unemployment is pushing shoppers to stretch every rand.

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The bigger e‑commerce picture

Across South Africa, Foschini operates over 3,400 outlets. This year, consumers nationwide are projected to spend roughly 159 billion rand ($9.9 billion) online, with e‑commerce up an estimated 23% and, for the first time, expected to represent 10% of retail turnover for the year across the country, according to a Wednesday report from World Wide Worx, Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Africa. For your wallet, the headline is simple: more spending is shifting to screens, and retailers are following the traffic.