Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
THE retail landscape in Zimbabwe has undergone a dramatic transformation. Once bustling with iconic brands like Truworths and Barbours, urban centres now house a multitude of small boutiques and shops. This shift was partly fuelled by the rise of second-hand clothing and cheap imports, posing a significant challenge to formal retailers like Edgars. Yet, Edgars has not only survived but thrived. In an exclusive interview with our Staff Writer, Almot Maqolo (AM), Edgars chief executive Sevious Mushosho (SM) delved into the company’s strategies for adapting to the changing market. Below are excerpts from the interview:
AM: Even though your full-year figures are Zim dollar results, they have been impressive considering the competitive environment. How have you managed to survive, especially in this highly in informalised market?
SM: Thank you for the compliment. What we have done is upgrade the quality of our merchandise. We flushed out all the rubbish merchandise that was in the stores and we are rebuilding our brand. So, we believe that our customers are looking for exclusive merchandise.
They are looking for high-quality merchandise and that is what we are giving them. So, we have gone to market, understanding exactly what the competition is doing.
So, competition took advantage of the balls we dropped, so we just picked up the balls, and now we are competing for them. So we have seen that if you walk into town now, there will be more customers in Edgars Stores than in boutiques. So that is a good sign that our customers are voting for the quality we are producing.
We have retooled Carousel to replace some suppliers who were not giving us good quality.
Sevious Mushosho
The customers are loving what is coming out of Carousel. We have also looked at the top end of the market and started producing in Turkey.
So, we have very impressive merchandise out of Turkey for both men and ladies in Avondale, Borrowdale, and Ascot, in Bulawayo.It’s extremely high quality, and our customers are loving it. This month (May) alone, we had 1 600 new customers register with us. So we are very excited about this latest love from our customers. We believe that, as a country, we cannot afford to have people shop in these little boutiques. It’s not representing who we are as a country. We are the top retail store in terms of clothes in this country.
So, we want to make sure that we give our customers the best, like anywhere else in the world. What you are selling right now in the stores is as good as anywhere. Our quality is better than what you see in South Africa. We have seen that. Some customers have returned from South Africa just to buy in Zimbabwe because they realised that we sell something way better.
AM: We understand that you are going to import some of your fabrics from Italy and Turkey. How much are you budgeting towards those imports?
SM: For fabric, last year we spent about US$4 million. This year, we are spending around US$6 million. But we are creating a buffer for fabrics. So that will not be a significant number in the scheme of the overall stockholding. Because once we beneficiate locally, the value of that fabric is going to be probably three times higher.
So, effectively, in terms of the overall value of stock, that will be quite significant in terms of our imports. We have reduced our imports from a 50 percent contribution to about 30 percent. We believe that by the end of the year, we will probably have only about 20 percent in terms of imports.
AM: Tell us about exports’ contribution to the group in terms of revenue.
SM: It used to be 50-50. Now it’s only 30 percent from imports, and 70 percent is coming from local production.
AM: We understand that you mentioned that you are going to start exporting some of your products to South Africa. Apart from South Africa, are there any new markets that you are considering?
SM: We will be exploring Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia in Africa first before we move outside Africa. But our focus in South Africa is on a huge market. Most people in Africa go shopping in South Africa. So, they will meet our brands there. So, we want them to be tourists coming to Zimbabwe to buy from us.
AM: What areas will be targeted by the relaunched Express Stores chain?
SM: Basically, Express Stores will focus on growth points and some Rural District Councils (RDCs), which are quite significant in terms of market. But mainly growth points and downtown markets in different towns.
AM: What’s your outlook?
SM: It’s a difficult year because of the drought. But we are very excited about the response from our customers. Our sales are currently very decent. We believe that we will be able to create value this year for shareholders. It’s going to be tough, but we are very excited. We saw an increase in terms of ZiG sales, which is encouraging, and in cash. So, we are looking forward to seeing some very exciting results from there.
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