Small businesses run clothing giants out of town

Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter

TRADITIONAL clothing giants continue to scale down operations in Bulawayo amid reports that they were no longer operating viably owing to an influx of cheap imports. 

Two giant clothing stores are reportedly set to scale down operations in Bulawayo, as the company embarks on a new business model. Last year, Edgars Stores closed one of its branches in the city centre, saying its location was no longer good for business. It also moved some senior managers from its headquarters in Bulawayo to Harare, where it said it was getting more business compared to other parts of the country. 

Sources in the business sector said the relocation of some clothing shops was also influenced by the emerging trends in the city where property owners are remodelling their premises to design smaller spaces for rental to Small and Medium Enterprises that are dominating the local economy. Spaces that were usually occupied by one retailer have now been split to accommodate a number of businesses depending on the size. 

Truworths Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer Mr Bekithemba Ndebele said his organisation was embarking on a new business model in response to the environment, but was not closing shop in Bulawayo.

“The only branches we have closed are Masvingo, Mutare, Bindura and Mount Darwin, that is all. It is part of reorganisation, in these hard economic times with consumer demands having dropped like this you cannot carry stores for the sentiment. It’s about money, making money, full-stop. If it does not make sense, you close it,” he said.

Mr Sylvester Mupanduki, a financial analyst said Bulawayo has transformed from being a manufacturing giant to a Small to Medium Enterprise hub.

“Bulawayo, which used to be famous for housing big clothing factories and shops has changed,” said Mr Mupanduki. Furthermore, one of the challenges pushing clothing retailers out of the city is the emergence of cheap imports from overseas and used clothing from Mozambique.

“If you look at the clothing sector, Bulawayo serves as a big market of the inexpensive garments from South Africa. This makes it challenging for traditional stores in Bulawayo to compete, particularly because these informal sellers have lower expenses. As a result, numerous formal stores are shutting down in Bulawayo,” he added.

Mr Mupanduki gave an example of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) whose pension fund has started remodelling its properties as part of urban regeneration that is set to benefit its members.

“Look at NRZ. To make more money, they must split up and rent out their empty buildings to small traders. In situations like this, it doesn’t matter much if things are sustainable; the Chief Executives need to keep their jobs, investors want to see profits and businesses must make enough money to cover their costs and pay bills on time. They must do whatever it takes to bring in money,” he added.

However, Mrs Samantha Samuriwo, a civil servant who held accounts at two traditional clothings shops in Bulawayo said despite the high prices of clothing in the shops due to higher purchase, the quality was good.

“We pay fairly high prices for the clothes and shoes but it is clothing that is of high quality, we still boast that we have clothes from Edgars that we bought over 10 to 15 years ago and they have stood the test of time, they are durable,” she said. 

The co-ordinator of the Bulawayo Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises, Mr Nketha Dlamini, said the scaling down of operations by clothing giants in Bulawayo has brought both positives and negatives impacts.

“Closure of big shops has harmed the SME sector in Bulawayo because quite a number of our members were supplying them with products on a contract arrangement. Their relocation  might have an impact in that most of the buyers might also relocate, eventually, and the decision-making process will take longer. Decisions will now be made in Harare and obviously, it will affect those based here,” said Mr Dlamini.

On the other hand, Mr Dlamini said the closure of clothing shops in Bulawayo and beyond could be a blessing in disguise.

“As they close shop and relocate they are leaving a vacuum, a space, it might take a strategic move by SMEs to say how do we combine our energy and how do we synergise and recreate ourselves into these big shops,” he added. – @NyembeziMu