S&V Weekly Newsletter Vol.8 No.29, July 18 2022

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Components

Coats hands over distribution to Berzack Brothers

Pinetown, KZN, SA - Barely 2 weeks after announcing its acquisition of Texon, UK-based Coats Plc last week announced it had "entered into an exclusive distributor agreement with Berzack Brothers (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bidvest Group Limited", to take over its southern African operations.
      As of today, Coats products will be handled by the Coats division of Berzack Brothers.
      Berzack is a wholesale distributor of industrial machinery and accessories to the clothing, luggage, upholstery, bedding and embroidery industries, and Coats' wide range of threads is a fit.
      According to a source, there will also be an advantage in holding stock in Berzack's regional warehouses as against Coats SA's Pinetown warehouse. Berzack will also be able to offer more technical support, the source said, while Coats Plc will continue to offer full service and guarantees.
      Berzack's Level 3 BEE rating is also seen as an advantage.

Retail

This week the interviews were with retailers in Mpumalanga, a rural area dependent on tourism, mining and agriculture.

Still not back to pre-Covid levels, but plenty of determination and new ideas

Piet Retief (eMkhondo), Mpumalanga, SA - "Business is about making ends meet," said Mohsin Badat, the fourth generation member of 120-year-old men's outfitter A.M. Badat. "Sales pick up between the 25th of the month to the first few days of the next month, but it's nothing like the old days." He said he hadn't changed his mostly branded product mix, "but our margins have had to come down - so many consumers compare prices online, and we have to compete".

Hazyview, Mpumalanga, SA - "Business at the moment is like the weather," said Sailesh Nagar, member of men's outfitter Amagents Hazyview. "You just never know what to expect, just check the weather in the morning and dress appropriately " He said political and economic instability were often to blame. "Anything can spark a fire. We lost 2 days of trade last week because of a strike, and you never really get that time back."
      He said chains had improved to the point where they offered the environment that independents previously had to themselves. "I've focused slightly differently from the chains - middle market, better value, more variety." Part of that is specialising in bigger sizes - clothing and footwear - "and we're known for it".
      He said costs - of stock and everything else - continue to rise. "Nylon tape used to manufacture our belts has gone from R6.45 a square metre last year November to R11.50 now. Suppliers tell me when Customs holds up their containers, they have to pay for storage, adding to the cost."
      He has stuck with mostly the same brands. "Some are timeless, but for most of them, they have different times to shine. Vans, Fila and Kappa for example, were very strong a few years back, and now we can't give them away."

Piet Retief (eMkhondo), Mpumalanga, SA - For BB Bazaar, "business has been quiet", member Nasir Badat said. BB sells a mix of furnishings, fabrics, haberdashery and technical sportswear, and he said he expected the sports side to pick up when school holidays end. Soccer, cricket and other team sports footwear, apparel and equipment had boomed since restrictions ended, but gym equipment, which had been doing well, was now "very slow". He said BB "stocks a little of everything", but that "we're now buying as we need". "I'm just hoping it will improve," he said.

Nelspruit (Mbombela), Mpumalanga, SA - The first 5 months of 2022 were "dismal, and worse than what was a bad year last year", said the owner of a women's and children's outfitter, but after a two-and-a-half year steep learning curve, she has reason to expect a marked turnaround.
      "Jan-May sales were lower than the same period last year. Then June was up 34%, so overall for the first 6 months of the year, I'm 10% down on last.
      "We've learnt to tighten our buy. We're not buying volume but we're making sure we have a stock of basics. Children's wear is 50% of the business over the year, and you need to have stock early on to have an edge, because parents start lay-byes in July.
      "We've put in a new point of sales system, with things like setting and reordering from reorder levels etc. I do all my own bookkeeping with the aid of accounting software that’s Cloud based - Xero. This makes work and costs for the actual accounting much less in the long term. For the first time in years I can have a profit and loss report - real time anytime - which, once set up, makes daily bookkeeping a breeze.
      "Daily allocations of transactions from bank statements are made from an app on your phone. So you are really up to date very easily.
      "At month end my accountant logs on to Xero through a browser and continues his work.
      "We're marketing through social media, but SMS messages to our 24 000 Facebook and 1 000 Instagram followers became too expensive, so we've changed to WhatsApp, which isn't data-heavy, and all our lower LSM customers have it.
      "We are working on an online presence. It’s work in progress."

Wage negotiations

All sectors settle

Durban, KZN, SA – All 3 sectors of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of SA have now settled their wage negotiations, general secretary Gerald Naidoo has confirmed. In the footwear sector, both unions have accepted 6.8% plus1 additional day family responsibility leave.
      In the tanning sector, both unions have accepted 7.25%.
      Handbags & general goods settled earlier.

SAFLIA

Mancom meeting

Durban, KZN, SA – The next meeting of SAFLIA's management meeting will be on 27 July in Durban.

Listed companies

Richemont announces double-digit sales growth for Q1 ended 30 June 2022

Geneva, Switzerland (15 July 2022) – Swiss/South African luxury goods manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer Richemont listed the following highlights:
* Positive start to the financial year with double-digit sales growth both at actual exchange rates (+20%) and constant exchange rates (+12%)
* Strong performance driven by higher sales in Europe, Americas, Japan and the Middle East and Africa more than offsetting lower sales in Asia Pacific; the US, Richemont’s largest single market for the quarter, comprising 22% of Group sales
* Growth led by retail, now accounting for 58% of Group sales compared to 55% in the prior year period
* Sales growth across all channels and business areas, both at constant and actual exchange rates:
-  Jewellery Maisons delivering sales growth of 20% at actual exchange rates (+12% at constant rates)
  - Specialist Watchmakers growing by 18% at actual exchange rates (+10% at constant rates)
- Online Distributors increasing by 8% at actual exchange rates (+2% at constant rates)
- Other business area progressing strongly by 36% at actual exchange rates (+28% at constant rates)

They Said It

"People still want clothes, so you keep on going. Smile and wave, boys, smile and wave." - Sailesh Nagar, member of men's outfitter Amagents, Hazyview, Mpumalanga, SA.

Got anything you'd like to share?

Do you have any suggestions, comments or experiences about the industry that you'd like to share with the industry? - tony@svmag.co.za

18/07/1950: Magda Erlank, Me Boutique, Newcastle, KZN, SA.
18/07/1963: Peter Colombo, formerly Hippo Bag & Screen [closed], Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
18/07/1964: G.H. Omarjee, A.M. Omarjee & Sons/O'Jees, KwaDukuza, KZN, SA.
18/07/1973: Sanjay Bhagwandas, Ginger Bhagwandas Exclusive, Durban, KZN, SA.
18/07/1974: Zunaid Gathoo, Shoe Zone, Sasolburg, Free State, SA.
18/07/1996: Marno Koen, Vellie Boutique, Boksburg, Gauteng, SA.
19/07/1946: Mohamed Iqbal Ahmed, A.V. Mohamed & Sons, Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, SA.
19/07/1967: Fatima Do Tanque, Super Save, Aliwal North, E. Cape, SA.
19/07/1968: Hussein Feyssa, Hafde Tannery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
19/07/1977: Shantell Sables, Elan Polo, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
21/07/1961: Klaus Manock, Manock Naturals, Durban, KZN, SA.
21/07/1965: Gavin Cooke, Rebel Safetygear, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
22/07/1948: Roy Nell, Roy Nell Agencies, Durban, KZN, SA.
22/07/1960: Holger Stutz, Paul Moeller & Co, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
23/07/1940: Errol Schilder, retired, formerly Barker Footwear, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
23/07/1954: Jerome Ingenhoes, Exotan, Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA.
23/07/1956: Rob Peschel, emigrated, formerly Outeniqua Tanning [closed], George, W. Cape, SA.
24/07/1982: Thembi Mazibuko-Kahimbaara, Leather Zulu, Randburg, Gauteng, SA.

20/07/????: Ivy Cunningham (b. 16/10/1919), In Step Shoes [closed], Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.
22/07/1993: Paul Hoch, Edendale Tannery [closed], Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA.
22/07/1993: Chagan Ratanje, RK Footwear, Harare, Zimbabwe.
22/07/2008: Derek Brown (b. 13/01/1948), Derek Brown Agencies, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.
22/07/2021: Sagran Naick (b. 08/01/1965), commission agent, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA.

Have you let us know about your birthday, or the birthdays of your colleagues? Our readers love this section, so please become part of it. This also applies to the In Memoriam section. Help us remember former colleagues.

Directory entries updated last week

A.M. Badat, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, SA.
Amagents, Hazyview and Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, SA.
BB Bazaar, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, SA.
Brown Sugar, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, SA.

New subscribers last week

Cornelio M. Sunduza, Leather Institute of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Maloti, Bolton Footwear, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
Lana Rossouw, Cape Town, W. Cape, SA.
Angelo Rampersadh, Crick Group, Midrand, Gauteng, SA.
Matthew Abbott, World Leather Magazine, Liverpool, UK

3. Malawian Kwacha (MWK)

Source: https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

4. Zambian Kwacha (ZMW)

Source: https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

5. Zimbabwean Dollar (ZWL$)

Source: https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/

Note: For previous rates, see HERE

ABSA Agri Trends: Hides & skins prices

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (04 July 2022) - The current average hide price increased slightly by 0.5% to R4.13/kg from R4.11/kg a week ago. The current price is 0.2% lower than the average price a month ago and is 51.1% lower than the average price a year ago. The range of prices reported was as follows: Minimum price: R4.00 Maximum price: R5.00. Please note: Our methodology weighs the prices we collect according to the number of hides they sell in a month. This is done to make it more representative of the prevailing market price. NB* Hide prices are determined by the average of the RMAA (Red Meat Abattoir Association) and independent companies. - Marlene Louw, senior agricultural economist, and Nkhensani Mashimbyi, agricultural economist, Absa group.

Note: For previous prices, see HERE

Have a look at these links

We invite businesses to send us links to websites, Facebook pages and the like which they feel would be of interest to others. The links below are from our database:
Hannitan, Springs, Gauteng, SA. Furniture leather tannery.
Hans Lohmeier Men's Outfitters, Walvis Bay, Namibia. Men's outfitter.

Contact us

News & Classifieds: Tony Dickson, +27 (0)31 209 7505, tony@svmag.co.za

Next newsletter: July 25, 2022.

SAFLIA enquiries: Tel 0800SAFLIA * Email info@saflia.co.za * Website http://www.saflia.co.za

Our website www.svmag.co.za