OK Zimbabwe has said it will invest US$27 million in the development of new stores and refurbishing existing ones in order to grow market share and improve customer experience.
The company had not progressed on refurbishments awaiting approval of the Food Lovers Market franchise acquisition, BH24 reported quoting the group’s chief executive, Mr Maxen Karombo. Speaking during an analyst briefing recently, Karombo said:
We will be investing in this brand going forward, creating new stores and revamping existing ones.
By the second half we will roll out numerous stores and in due course will come to market introducing our revamped rebranding across the Group.
According to Mr Karombo, the company will have the Food Lovers territorial rights for the whole country except for the Greendale branch, which is under a different franchise arrangement.
While presenting the group’s half-year financials for the period ended September 30, 2022, Karombo said:
In our last report, we had a cautionary statement on an investment the group was making, and today we announce the acquisition of Food Lovers Market for Zimbabwe.
Food Lovers, now part of the group and what we have is Food Lovers Borrowdale, Avondale and in Bulawayo. It excludes the Greendale shop because it is under a different franchise arrangement.
Karombo said the franchise gives OK Zimbabwe a good space to grow in super-premium retail and from the services and products that it will offer.
He noted that Zimbabwe is one of the growth areas of Food Lovers, which has 110 stores, six eateries and 246 coffee outlets throughout the region servicing in excess of 380 000 customers per day.
During the period under review, OK Zimbabwe operated through 68 stores.
The Group’s revenue for the half year to September 30, 2022, grew to $129 billion from $95.6 billion in the comparative period.