Edgars (department store)

Last updated

Edgars
Company type Private
Industry Retail
Founded1929;96 years ago (1929)
Headquarters
Johannesburg
,
South Africa
Number of locations
~ 200 (2020)
Area served
 Southern Africa
Key people
Norman Drieselmann (CEO)
Products Clothing
Beauty products
OwnerRetailability
Website edgars.co.za

Edgars is a South African chain of department stores, with locations throughout Southern Africa. Founded in 1929, it is headquartered in Johannesburg.

Contents

The chain has around 200 stores across South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana as well as in the capital cities of eSwatini, Lesotho, and Ghana. Formerly owned by Edcon, the company was sold to Durban-based private fashion company Retailability in 2020, when the former went into liquidation. [1]

History

Edgars was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1929, by brothers Morris and Eli Ross. [2] The company was named after London-based department store Swan & Edgar. [2] Eli Ross opened his first Edgars store in Joubert Street. [2]

The company relocated to Cape Town in 1929, before returning to Johannesburg in 1937. [2] 1979 saw the company open its new head office called Edgardale and a distribution centre at Crown Mines. [2] South African Breweries would purchase Edcon in 1982. [2]

As part of Edcon, Edgars was included in an ill-fated buyout by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital Private Equity LP in 2007, which burdened the parent company with debt just as the economy suffered from the Great Recession after the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2014 Edgars opened at a new 50,000 square meter shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya. [3] In 2018 Edgars introduced a new, larger 8,000 square meter store in Fourways Mall in Johannesburg, featuring trees, play areas, a coffee shop, “beauty rooms” where customers can get makeovers, and a section that allows customers to print their own text or images on clothing. Edgars promoted the new prototype store design as "a bit like a town square, a multi-sensory, tree-lined central social space". [4]

In January 2020 it announced it would close its 6,000 square meter store in the upscale Rosebank Mall in Johannesburg suburb Rosebank. [5]

In June 2020 Edcon put the chain up for sale due to economic difficulties stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] 7 July 2020 it was announced that Edcon has signed an agreement to sell the chain to Durban-based Retailability, which operates 460 stores across Southern Africa and is the owner of brands Legit, which Edcon had sold to Retailability four years prior, [7] [8] Beaver Canoe, and Style. Retailability acquired 130 of 194 Edgars stores. [9]

In September of the same year, the company under the new leadership announced to be repositioning Edgars as a mass market brand focused on fashion and beauty products, shifting from its previous homeware portfolio. [10]

In 2025, Edgars downsized a number of its South African stores. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Stores", Edgars website, accessed July 7, 2020
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Musiker, Naomi (1999). Historical dictionary of Greater Johannesburg. Internet Archive. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN   978-0-8108-3520-7.
  3. ↑ "SA’s fashion chains Foschini and Edgars to open in Nairobi", Business Daily Africa, 22 January 2013
  4. ↑ Wasserman, Helena (27 August 2019). "TAKE A LOOK: The first 'new' Edgars store has play areas, personal shoppers and a section where you can print your own t-shirt". Business Insider (South Africa). Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  5. ↑ Mike Simpson, "Edgars Rosebank closure another sign of SA’s changing retail environment", The South African, 13 January 2020
  6. ↑ Bowker, John. "Edgars On Auction Block After 91 Years of South African Trading". Bloomberg.
  7. ↑ "Edcon agrees to sell stake in Edgars to rival". BusinessTech (South Africa). 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Kronje, Jan (7 July 2020). "Pieces of fashion retailer, Edgars, set to be sold off". Fin24. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "PROFILE: Norman Drieselmann, the CEO who bought Edgars". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "South Africa's Edgars to be repositioned as mass market brand, says new owner". Reuters. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  11. ↑ Luke Fraser (26 June 2025). "Iconic retailer shrinking stores in South Africa". BusinessTech. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
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