South African retailer Massmart said it plans to close all of its non-performing stores, as cash-strapped consumers battle with high unemployment, modest wage increases and higher average fuel and utility prices.
Massmart, majority-owned by Walmart, said on Thursday the management will close trading at 23 Dion Wired Stores on 19 March and will decide whether to cease trading at 11 Masscash stores.
Discussion With Labour Unions
The company said it would continue talks with labour unions on measures to mitigate job losses and look at moving affected workers into vacant roles in other stores “where practical and reasonable”.
In the year ended 31 December, Massmart’s mass discounters division, which comprises hi-tech retailer Dion Wired and general merchandise and food retailer Game, fell to an annual trading loss of 674.6 million rand from a profit of 32.6 million rand hurt by lower consumer spending on electronics.
