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wholesale business and changed the trading name to West Star, as it consolidates its brands for a single group identity.
The West Group companies also comprise WestBev, West Food Distribution Network, West Oils, West Fuels, West Property, West Sanitary and Paper and West Agencies and Intercrop & Fellowgold Mining.
The group started using the Red Star brand after acquiring the assets of Red Star Wholesalers’ Leopold Takawira Street (Harare) and another in Bulawayo.
West Foods chairman Mr Ken Sharpe said the Red Star brand was dropped to manage perceptions stemming from the brand’s “unsavoury” past.
But West Group said discussions with the owners Red Star Holdings were ongoing as it seeks to acquire the firm’s listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
“We felt it was better to rebrand Red Star and have our own identity,” said Mr Sharpe.
“We have dropped Red from our name and instead put West to the name.
“We felt Red Star was old and had been used for a long time. We also had positive and negative experience and wanted to be something new.”
Part of the negative experiences, he said, included negative perceptions among customers who had terrible experiences with Red Star as it went into demise. Efforts to correct the entrenched perceptions hit a dead end, he said.
“Customers had reliable and consistent supplies before Red Star Wholesalers went into demise. But customers were now frustrated,” he said.
Mr Sharpe said consolidation of brands had always been the group’s strategic focus and gave companies under West Foods a common identity.
West Group plans to expand its branch network from 12 next year to about 30 within the next two years, covering most growth points across the country.
Red Star Wholesalers has since applied for provisional liquidation after a financial haemorrhage that afflicted operations and its viability as a going concern.
Tudor House consultant Mr Cecil Madondo has been appointed managing consultant for the liquidation of Red Star Wholesalers Limited.
Directors and shareholders of the wholesale and distribution firm met in October last year and resolved to place the company under voluntary liquidation.
Due to the undercapitalisation the firm is now indebted to various creditors. It is unable to meet its obligations, with no prospects it could trade out of its debts.
As of September 25 2011 Red Star Wholesalers’ current liabilities stood at US$8,7 million against total assets of US$365 741, without any cash in the bank.
West Group, which had offered to take over other Red Star branches, decided against the idea after considering their stockpile, assets and liabilities.
Mr Madondo, who will oversee the liquidation, is an experienced management consultant with experience spanning more than 20 years in the field.
Online Reporter