Retail group Massmart announced on Monday they are in a consultation process that could lead to the closure of 34 stores nationwide and the retrenchment of 1 440 employees in what they have termed their “store optimisation project”.
Following the announcement, the company share price rose by almost 4%, according to The South African.
Massmart is a subsidiary of the US giant Walmart and is the umbrella company covering Game, Makro, Builder’s Warehouse, Cambridge Food, Jumbo, CBW, and Dion Wired.
The group confirmed that poor sales and high operational costs in certain stores led to the decision shaking thousands of households.
Members of the public have taken to social media in reaction to the announcement, with some even linking it to the political tension between the US and other nations such as Iran.
Curious without prejudice?. Are you sure this allegedly has to do with store optimization as claimed. This is an American Group, with the political tension btween USA, IRAN, South Africa ETC is USA slowly making its exit from South Africa cautiously?https://t.co/BCDEPx1E5y
— Nemisha Maharaj Kraamwinkel (@NemishaMaharajK) January 14, 2020
Retrenchment and closing down of stores @ Dion Wired by MassMart is the business decision however I believe the online shopping is the best solution and Dion Wired should go that route than closing down completely.
— Maxwell (@MaxwellJabu2kk) January 14, 2020
Don’t forget though that Massmart was bought out a couple of years ago by American Walmart. There would have been “no retrenchment for X years” written into that agreement and we have probably reached the end of that freeze. It was expected, but now the unions will create hell.
— #Insert_Name_Here (@dmdadcpt) January 13, 2020
Picture: Unsplash
