admin
Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe : Lifestyle Editor
In this war the winner aims to take most of the cash floating around and swipe the largest number of debit cards. If the competition can be vanquished totally all the better as supermarkets in the CBD lock horns to become the dominant brand in the centre of the city. The past few months have seen the pressure steadily rise.The average city centre daily shopper may not spend much compared to the suburban trolley fillers. But what they lack in wallet depth, they more than make up in volumes. So every supermarket worth the name will want to capture the true fast moving consumer goods business of the city centre.
TM Pick ‘n’ Pay goes for saturation
From an outsider’s perspective it is clear that Meikles group has decided to edge out the competition simply by being there, wherever there might happen to be within a tight quadrangle of the CBD centred on First Street.
With a branch on Jason Moyo, another one down the road at Joina City, a third a few blocks away in Orr Street and the fourth at the Corner of Kenneth Kaunda and Angwa, the TM Pick ‘n’ Pay brand is right in your face. It also caters for most demographic groups with motorists enjoying a limited free parking perk at Joina City.
For the serious northerners who count going into the CBD as an event, TM Pick ‘n’ Pay is well represented in the suburban shopping malls like Sam Levy Village, Westgate and Kamfinsa. It does not hurt that the brand is represented on the downtown side with their reach going as far as Magaba shopping centre in Mbare. The chain is also buttressed by the Meikles Mega Market brands in the same area.
In addition to the decisive footprint the chain has also gone for pricing and promotions. Their cutlery promotions have been applauded by many shoppers and most probably have helped in retaining custom in a tough atmosphere.
“What I like about this promotion is that you are rewarded according to how you shop. And it also comes with many pricing specials which help stretch the dollar further. I am also impressed by the number of Zimbabwean products on the shelves. So I think I will be sticking with this supermarket for a while,” said a lady who says that she shops at the Jason Moyo or Joina City branches.
OK going for range
The OK brand has obviously decided to defend its position and reclaim lost ground by renovating and revamping its First Street Branch. With a wide range of basic provisions, luxury items, clothing, bed linen, furniture, a sit in restaurant, food deli and sundry other items the recently re-opened OK First Street branch still has strong aspirations to becoming a hypermarket or departmental store.
Occupying only two of the available four floors, the shop has plenty room to expand the token departments and add more choices. They could really leverage the one stop aspect. Alternately if practical, turning the basement into a mini-parking lot would also attract the driver customer who might avoid the shop because of parking issues.
“The shop looks ultra-modern with its new layout. I especially like the way that the meat section, confectionery, fresh produce and deli are now all contained in one area so to speak. And the sprucing up in general, it has definitely added to OK’s appeal. I think they will be able to get more clients coming back because people love new things,” said a shopper in OK.
OK’s other branch in the quadrangle located along Robson Manyika is in dire need of the same treatment. It has gone to seed and really needs work to compete with two TM Pick n’ Pays sandwiching it. The downtown branch is still passable as is the Mbare Musika one.
OK has its own major annual competition in the form of the OK Grand Challenge which has over the years drawn clientele and come to be an institution in its own right. But with its limited running time the chain has to find other ways of keeping the shopper enthralled for the rest of year.
Spar feeling the heat
As far as the war for the CBD shopper goes, Spar seems to be routed and left with the only choice being retreat. First Street closed shop a few weeks ago. The Julius Nyerere branch looks like it is barely limping along.
And they let go the prestigious Joina City branch which has since been taken over by TM Pick ‘n’ Pay. Should TM Pick ‘n’ Pay maintain its momentum at Joina City this will prove that it was not the location or lack of business that sank Spar. Food for thought.
Perhaps it is the franchise factor that has negatively affected the brand, but the bottom line is that the city centre has just not been good to Spar. Maybe the lesson here is that a brand should stick to the places for which it was developed and try not to muscle in on territories unknown and little understood.
Food World
One has to give it to Food World for holding its own in the middle of the battle field. Unlike the grass that is trampled when giants fight, the fully Zimbabwean chain has managed to maintain its own pool of loyalists who are perfectly comfortable to occupy the basic, little frills segment.
Food world has thrown all its three shops into an area separated by one street with two branches on the same block. It looks like it is working for them as their custom appears not be seriously affected by the wars going on around them between the larger chains.
A matter of cycles
Although TM Pick ‘n’ Pay appear to be outright winners right now, the only certainty is that there are no guarantees. Customers are a fickle lot and do not hesitate to take their money to the next shop that seduces them with a new fad. Which is good news for the shopper as it means that the retailer will always be bending backwards to deserve the privilege of appropriating our grubby dollar notes.
Online Reporter