About our Company » History

The Shoprite Group of Companies started from small beginnings in 1979 with the purchase of a chain of 8 Cape-based supermarkets for R1 million. The next 30 years were marked by various acquisitions and innovative expansion strategies that brought it to the R48 billion business that Shoprite is today.

In 1983 the Group opened its first branch outside the Western Cape – in Hartswater in the Northern Cape. At the end of that year, Shoprite opened its 21st outlet in Worcester and celebrated an increase in turnover of almost 600% over the four years of its existence. A year later Shoprite sped up its growth by buying six food stores from Ackermans. In 1986 the Group expanded to the Free State, opening a store in Bloemfontein. Shoprite was listed on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa with a market capitalisation of R29 million. It then owned 33 outlets. Two years later Shoprite ventured over the Vaal River and opened two stores in the former Transvaal province, the first of which is situated in Polokwane (Pietersburg).

In 1990 Shoprite opened in Namibia. Within four years of listing on the JSE, Shoprite increased its outlets four-fold by acquiring Grand Bazaars, and the next year, in 1991; it grew almost six-fold with the acquisition of the national Checkers chain of supermarkets. Overnight Shoprite trebled in size to 241 outlets with a staff of 22 600.

While consolidating that new business, which for the first time gave Shoprite country-wide representation, expansion plans for the rest of the continent were put into action and by 1995 the Group was able to open its first store in Central Africa, Shoprite Lusaka in Zambia.

That same year Shoprite utilised a golden opportunity to increase its distribution substantially by acquiring the central buying organisation then known as Sentra, which acted as a buying group for 550 owner-manager supermarket members. Shoprite thus entered into the franchising field, enabling it to compete in smaller markets where the emphasis is on convenience.

In 1996 the Group launched the Woman of the Year Award to mark National Women’s Day. It became South Africa’s premier accolade for achievement by women and seeks to focus attention on issues that are of importance to the women of South Africa.

In 1997 Shoprite acquired the ailing OK Bazaars Group from SAB in the now legendary "R1 deal". This strategic expansion move added 157 super- and hyper sized supermarkets and 146 Furniture stores to the Group. In the same year the Group opened its first outlet in Mozambique and Chief Executive Whitey Basson earned the Western Cape Business Man of the Year Award as acknowledgement for his pioneering work in supermarket retailing. The Group also invested in a development in Mozambique and opened its first store in Maputo. All the OK stores in Swaziland were converted into Shoprite stores and a year later the same process was followed in Botswana.

Shoprite Holdings was selected by the Corporate Research Foundation as one of the 49 Best Companies To Work For and one of the 50 Most Promising Companies in South Africa for 1998. Also in 1998, Shoprite Holdings was ranked number 8 by Turnover in Financial Mail's Top 100 Companies listing. The Group was also ranked third in the category of Total Assets in Finance Week's survey of the Top 200 Companies in the JSE's Stores Sector.

In 1999 Shoprite Holdings was ranked 43rd in the Sunday Times Business survey of Top Companies by Price Earnings Ratio. The Group also maintained its position as number 8 in Financial Mail's Top 100 Companies listing by Turnover.

In 2000 the Group opened its first supermarkets in Zimbabwe and Uganda. The Corporate Research Foundation again selected Shoprite Holdings as one of South Africa's Most Promising Companies. The Group was the only supermarket retailer to achieve this distinction. In November 2000 the company was identified by Financial Mail and Human Capital Corporation (Deloitte & Touche) as one of the 40 Best Companies to work for. Also in 2000, the Sunday Times Business Times ranked Shoprite Holdings as number 51 in its listing of the Top 100 Companies over the previous 5 years.

A year later in 2001 the first of seven supermarkets opened in Egypt, taking Shoprite into the North African market. The Group also started operating in Malawi and Lesotho.
In this year F&T Finance Week measured the growth ratios of top companies and Shoprite was the top performer on earnings per share over 10 years. In Financial Mail's Top Company Survey of 2001 Shoprite Holdings was placed 58th in the ranking by market capitalisation of the Top 150 Market Leaders. In the retail sector the company ranked 3rd by market capitalisation. Shoprite was placed 4th in the survey on staff numbers and productivity.

October 2002 saw the acquisition of the French-owned Champion supermarket group in Madagascar in an agreement that enabled Shoprite to take control of five supermarkets now trading under the Shoprite banner, and one distribution centre.

The 2002 Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands Survey scored Shoprite Checkers in 4th place in the Most Loved Every-Day South African Brand category and 5th place in the Top 10 Most Admired Companies category. The Checkers brand shared the 1st place on a brand relationship score in the Grocery Store Sector, Shoprite was ranked 2nd, Shoprite Checkers 3d and the Ok brand took 4th place.

The November 2002 opening of the Group's first outlet in Mauritius - the first Shoprite Hyper beyond South African borders - made Group history by achieving the highest turnover ever recorded for a single opening day of trade.

Shoprite ended the year 2002 on a high note with the acquisition of Score Supermarkets' Tanzanian operation - three supermarkets and a small distribution centre - which became effective on 31 December.

After listing on the Namibian Stock Exchange towards the end of 2002, the first highlight of the year 2003 was the Company's listing of 2, 7 million shares on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) at an initial listing price of 4,200 Kwacha per share. The Group's main listing remains on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In the same year the Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands survey identified Shoprite and Checkers, individually and combined, as South Africa’s most trusted supermarket. The Group also opened its first stores in Ghana and Angola and made a start with the rollout of the highly successful new Usave format.

The 2003 Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands Survey identified Shoprite and Checkers, individually and combined, as South Africa’s Most Trusted Supermarket. In a measurement of all brands, Shoprite scored fifth place in the category for Most Admired Companies – the highest of all retailers.

In 2004 Shoprite started trading as a wholesale operation in India and franchised its first Shoprite Hyper in this country, in a modern shopping centre in Mumbai. In the 2004 Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands survey, Shoprite Checkers is listed as the fifth Most Admired Company in South Africa.

2005 saw the Group acquiring both Foodworld, with 13 stores, and Computicket, as well as opening the first Shoprite Liquor Shop. Furthermore, in December of 2005 Shoprite entered Nigeria, the world's fifth largest oil producer, when it opened a supermarket in a new shopping centre in Lagos. During 2006 the Group divested from Egypt due to ongoing restrictions on retailing. Its seven stores were closed, resulting in a loss of R19, 9 million.

Also in 2005 , the Shoprite brand scores second place in the Top Grocery and Convenience Store category and Checkers fourth place, in the annual Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands survey. Shoprite is also rated amongst the Top 10 for Community Upliftment. Hungry Lion is recognised for creating huge brand awareness in only a few years by entering the Top 10 in the Fast-food Top Brands sector.

Shoprite was ranked 132nd on the list of the world’s top 250 retailers in 2006 according to the 2008 Global Powers of Retail report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, in conjunction with STORES magazine. Only four South African retailers made it on to the list.

The 2006 Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands survey rated Shoprite the number one food retail brand in the country. Shoprite also achieved the highest score from customers in non-metro areas where the brand has established the largest footprint in its forty years of existence. Moreover, Shoprite Checkers is listed under the top six good corporate citizens in South Africa in a national survey by research company Plus 94 on the corporate social responsibility contributions made by companies.

In December 2007 Shoprite announced an investment of US$80 million into the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the development of two world class supermarkets in the major cities of Lubumbashi and Kinshasa. Construction is set to commence in the second quarter of 2008 with an anticipated completion date of mid-2009.

The 2007 Markinor-Sunday Times Top Brands survey rated Shoprite amongst the Top 10 companies for Community Upliftment. Hungry Lion was also rated amongst the Top 10 Fast Food and Restaurant Chains.

2008 saw the Shoprite Group added to the JSE Top-40 Index of blue-chips, while the Shoprite brand was voted South Africa’s number one supermarket in the annual Ipsos Markinor Top Brands business-to-consumer survey.

In the 2008 Business Times Top 100 Companies Survey - a survey that acknowledges those listed companies that have earned the most wealth for their shareholders - Shoprite Holdings was ranked in the top 20 companies in both the over 5 year and over 1 year measurements of return. When compared to the other 39 companies within the JSE Top-40 Index, the same survey placed Shoprite Holdings in an impressive 5th position.  

Also in 2008, Shoprite was named the leading retailer in Africa and Middle East out of the regions’ 30 best grocery businesses in a report by Planet Retail titled: Africa and Middle East Rankings: All set to make the difference.

In January of 2009 Shoprite Holdings Ltd., South Africa's largest grocery chain by market value, was added to Merrill Lynch & Co.'s list of most preferred stocks, with the bank citing "excellent growth" in sub-Saharan Africa. For the second year in a row, the Shoprite brand was also voted SA's No. 1 supermarket in the 2009 Sunday Times Top Brand Survey.

In the Deloitte report - Emerging from the downturn: Global Powers of Retail 2010 - published in January 2010, Shoprite Holdings Ltd was listed as the largest retailer in South Africa and 130th biggest retailer globally. This report identified the 250 largest retailers in the world based on publicly available data for the companies’ 2008 fiscal year (encompassing fiscal years ended through June 2009).

Today the Shoprite Group trades with 1137 corporate and 276 franchise outlets in 17 countries across Africa, bringing the total number of stores in the Group to 1413. 

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