New FX stores from Foschini
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Consumer Industries Editor
CAPE TOWN Fashion retail group Foschini planned to spend R3m on rolling out its first six FX stores in shopping malls in major urban areas and a further R5m on opening another 10 FX stores next year, Foschini divisional MD Simon Bowley said on Friday.
In 2001 the group started converting some of its ailing Foschini stores, typically in country areas, to the Fashion Express brand.
Many of these country towns were facing economic decline, and some of the Fashion Express stores were closed when their leases ended.
In the year to March, eight Fashion Express stores were closed. But the brand delivered a very competitive offering in its market segment, Bowley said in the Foschini group`s latest annual report.
Fashion Express had developed the right product offering, sufficiently differentiated from Foschini, Bowley said. A new cash-only store format was being developed, and would be rolled out in the next year.
Bowley said last week that the group`s experience with Fashion Express showed there was a gap in the market for a ladies fashion store chain offering good value. FX is aimed at women who are fashion conscious but price sensitive.
Some Fashion Express stores would be converted to FX in the near future.
By last week the group had opened its first two FX stores, one at the Festival Mall in Kempton Park and one at The Glen in Johannesburg. Another store is being launched at the Greenacres mall in Port Elizabeth and a fourth will be opened in Roodepoort this month.
By March next year, there will be another two FX stores opened, one in Cape Town and another in Johannesburg.
More stores will be opened as sites become available, but the stores need to be located in positions where rentals and operating costs are lower because of their value orientation.
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