Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – I’ve actually closed my store down.

I was situated in Mooi Street, Johannesburg, but the city has degenerated so badly that customers were scared to come to buy high value goods as they could be robbed or stabbed. It’s just not worth it to risk my life in the slum that used to be Johannesburg. 

Port Edward, KZN, SA – I get 15 to 20 emails a day offering me stock, some of them for quite large pairages, so there are a lot of cancelled orders out there, including some from South Africa.

All that distressed stock globally hasn’t, so far, affected our business.

We’re very summer orientated, so we’ve survived winter, and orders for summer are coming in nicely. 

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – The Competition Tribunal has conditionally approved the proposed merger in which Pepkor Trading (Pty) Ltd will acquire the retail brands and businesses of Retailability (Pty) Ltd i.e. Legit, Style, Swagga (including the Beaver Canoe brand) and Boardmans. Once the merger is implemented, Pepkor Trading will assume control of the target businesses.

The Tribunal’s approval is subject to conditions relating to employment, procurement and supplier arrangements.

Pepkor Trading is controlled by Pepkor Holdings Ltd, which controls several firms both within and outside South Africa. Its activities in the retail of clothing, homeware, beauty and cellular products are relevant to this transaction.

The target businesses operate in South Africa as follows: Legit sells ladies’ fashion/apparel and various beauty products; Swagga sells apparel for men and boys; Style sells men’s and women’s contemporary and formal fashion wear, as well as kids’ clothing and cellular products; and Boardmans sells small appliances, bedding, towels, crockery, cutlery, outdoor cooking, bathroom accessories, dining and serve ware and other homeware products.

Retailability is left with 2 chains – Edgars, which it bought from Edcon in 2020, and Keedo, which it bought from the Cape Union Mart group in 2023. 

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Retired former footwear manufacturer Colin Pedlar died after a long illness on 18 July 2025, aged 79. An obituary will follow in the September issue of S&V Footwear & Leather Goods. 

Durban, KZN, SA – It has been a struggle this year so far with regards to business.

There are more negative factors surrounding the trade at the moment, and after a very long time, we are seeing this decline in orders with regards to our factory in particular.

Chain stores are not on our side to say the least, but we remain proactive and keep creating new developments.

We remain hopeful that there will be a turnaround soon, fingers crossed.