Pick n Pay are one of South Africa’s largest and most trusted retailers and it is only fitting that they have teamed up with the country’s most reliable petrol brand, BP, to improve the quality and convenience of refuelling and shopping experiences. Following the trend in South Africa for clustering retail and services together, the unrolling of Pick n Pay Express Stores has been a primary focus for the man in charge, Sidney Butler, who has seen 34 express stores opened this year so far. I am expecting this number to grow to over fity by February of 2015,” he says, “Additionally we have signed collaborations for another 120 BP Service stations across South Africa to open up stores.”

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“Pick n Pay works with hundreds of suppliers and partners across the country,” Sidney relates, “Such developments like Pick n Pay Express Stores provide more opportunities

for them to grow and diversify their market offering, encouraging them to adapt to the new possibilities.”

Sidney has worked with Pick n Pay for 15 years, having started within the trainee managerial program, so he has experienced the company at every level. He is an example of the investment of time and energy that the business puts into each of their employees and explains that this ethos of empowerment continues through to the models supporting each of the stores.

“The Express stores are built and leased on franchise agreements,” he says, “My role is to build the stores and get them operating smoothly before the franchise is then handed over.”

As a leading retail business, Pick n Pay employs in excess of 50,000 individuals across the country, not including the vast league of franchise owners who are looked upon less as partners and more

as family members. This is due, in part, to the philosophy with which the company was initially founded, in 1967, by consumer champion Raymond Ackerman. Purchasing the first few stores, he wanted to create a brand that was quintessentially a family business, focused on providing not only the best quality retail products but also a strong and lasting positive effect on the community.

The Ackerman family’s vision now encompasses stores in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Mauritius, Swaziland and Lesotho. Additionally, Pick n Pay owns a 49% share of Zimbabwean supermarket business, TM Supermarkets, so the security of their footprint as well as the future of their staff is clearly defined.

On offer to consumers, both in store and at the Express stores, includes groceries, clothing and general merchandise, but also additional value-added services designed to cater for their customers’ expectations and evolving needs.

For the past five years, the Group’s core focus has been to

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The growth of South Africa’s economy relies fully on the development and expansion of its leading businesses and so the collaboration between these two giants has proven to be a major step forward, not only in terms of convenience, but also in supplying jobs and opportunities for locals.

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strengthen its strong South African retail businesses under the Pick n Pay and Boxer brands, while adopting a systematic approach to expanding into adjacent areas, including geographical growth through the African continent.

As a major retailer in Africa, the Group strives to address socio-economic challenges through the supply of high-quality, affordable food for all customers and Sidney relates that the growth and success of the company is attributable to three basic principles; Consumer sovereignty, Doing good for the community and staff and the ongoing task of maximising business efficiency.

“Combining refueling with convenience purchasing was a major step for efficiency,” Sidney says, “Partnering with BP and expanding their forecourts cuts down the need for the customer to go to two different locations to shop and refuel and BP’s approach to business and community-centricity made it the most suitable match.”

This means that Pick n Pay Express stores will compete with Engen’s partnership with Woolworths Food, which currently has 45 convenience stores. In April, Iain Conn, BP’s Chief Executive of Refining and Marketing said, “We have reached a standard agreement with the National Empowerment Fund to help mainly black women franchisees to become successful BP franchise owners‚“

He said the expansion‚ part of a R5bn southern African investment program‚ would also see BP increase its own retail service network, with 50 new stations in South Africa and Mozambique. This would take their number to approximately 700 in the next five years.

In total‚ BP is spending in the region of R2.7bn on its retail network in Mozambique and South Africa over the five-year period, Iain added, “This is BP’s clearest demonstration of its commitment to creating and preserving jobs in southern Africa‚“

Although smaller in size than giant superstores, Pick n Pay has come to be associated with, and more focused on, convenience purchases during refuelling, the Express stores are not a departure from the famous Four Leg principles that has been the foundation of Pick n Pay since its first opening with Raymond Ackerman.

In the 1960s, Raymond Ackerman attended a seminar facilitated by Bernard Trujillo, a marketing genius who Ackerman considered to be one of the greatest influences of the century, there Trujillo described the “four legs of the retail table” as a method of implementing consumer sovereignty. This concept has since been made a core principle of the Pick n Pay business strategy.

In essence, each leg needs to be equally strong in order to balance the ‘table’. The four legs are; Administration, Merchandise, Advertising/Social Responsibility and People.

“The Express Stores are a means to further enhance our ability to facilitate the four legs,” Sidney says, “By helping our customers make more of their shopping experience overall.”

“Combining refueling with convenience purchasing was a major step for efficiency. Partnering with BP and expanding their forecourts cuts down the need for the customer to go to two different locations to shop and refuel and BP’s approach to business and community-centricity made it the most suitable match.”