Idris Pandor, Gem SchoolwearDurban, KZN, SA – Retail sales have picked up considerably since Monday and the trend will continue till the 14th. Each year with the volume of customers coming into the store we employ over 100 parttime staff in both our retail stores to assist with the sales. These PT staff get hands-on experience in th ...more

Jannie Vermeulen, Ekspa and Adno’sBenoni, Gauteng, SA – Up until October, it was a tough year, but then it started to improve. We had a Black Friday offering, and quite a few parents took the opportunity to buy early at lower prices.     December was up on the previous year, and our first day of tradin ...more

Michael Wyatt, Country Manager, Bata South AfricaPinetown, KZN, SA - Overall Back To School was extremely successful from a manufacturing, distribution, and retail perspective. We saw double-digit growth vs. plans, and a strong January top-up demand despite 2022’s inflationary pressure on raw material costs and gross margin. The maj ...more

Idris Pandor, director, The Gem Group of CompaniesDurban, KZN, SA - Sales are up by approximately 15% to 20% over last year, although I have heard of a higher increase in the market place.      Issues with procurement? Proper planning, like ordering/purchasing 6 to 9 months in advance, makes a HUGE difference ...more

Palm: Raring to goBy Rajeev Pattundeen, MDDurban, KZN, SA – We open 10.1, hence the silence… been in a quiet holiday bubble!      Our retail partners were adequately stocked in anticipation of a normalised back to school season.      Feedback received,  is that trade has been buoyant with mi ...more