While brick-and-mortar retail has been hit hard due to Covid-19, it is still far from dead. Hamiltons Advertising - a leading creative agency operating predominately in the retail space - has already seen a return to traditional shopping through the increased consumer dwell time in two recently opened client stores, Food Lover’s Market Waterfall Ridge and Food Lover’s Market Paarl.

Checkers, the first South African supermarket to launch a pet shop, has opened its 10th Petshop Science store in just seven months and will have 12 standalone stores by the end of the year.

Pick n Pay and its partner, TM Supermarkets, are investing in new Zimbabwe stores in addition to upgrading others, buoyed by a stronger uptick in sales and a robust revenue base.

The Shoprite Group unveiled its third new store format in one week, with the launch of a standalone pharmacy in Willowbridge Village called MediRite Plus.

Customer demands for Checkers supermarkets in their neighbourhoods inspired the newly launched, smaller format Checkers Foods which today opened its first store in Gauteng.

A fresh new Starbucks South Africa retail experience has launched inside the Checkers Flamingo supermarket. Set within the picturesque surroundings of a rolling five-acre heritage village at Modderfontein Junction, this super-convenient kiosk offers a brand new option for the family-oriented denizens of this fun-filled suburb.

Shoprite now has an online liquor store, LiquorShop Online, where customers can shop for more than 3,000 drinks and accessories for delivery nationwide.

The Shoprite Group aims to power 25% of its operations with renewable energy over the next five years and has added 22 new solar PV (photovoltaic) sites between February and September 2021, more than doubling its solar capacity.

Retailer Woolworths has launched a new trial that will see the group use electric panel vans as part of its online delivery fleet in South Africa.

On Wednesday (3 November), retail pharmacy group Dis-Chem reported revenue growth of 16.6% to R14.9 billion for the six months ended August 2021 and a 35.3% increase in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 48.7 cents per share.

Retail giant, Game, continues to take strides in the roll out of its overall turnaround strategy, Retail Reimagined, with the opening of three stores across Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, all with a new look and feel focused on offering a seamless shopping experience.

Clicks, the JSE-listed health and beauty retailer yesterday, announced it would spend R846 million of capex in the new financial year for expansion of stores as it inches towards its target of establishing 900 stores in South Africa in the long term.