A retailer in rude health

If, by some chance, the heads of all SA’S retailers were to find themselves lined up on sun loungers with balmy waters lapping around their collective ankles over the festive season, there might be stern words directed at the Dis-chem team for breaking omertà.

It’s a bit like a cricket match in which all the batsmen are scratching around muttering, “bloody awful pitch”, “greentop”, “turning square” and the like — except the one who is dispatching the ball over the pavilion with regularity and without breaking a sweat.

While it’s hard not to sympathise with those whose best-laid business plans are falling victim to the lack of loose change in the consumer’s pocket, Dis-chem is just getting on with what it does extremely well.

While this can partly be attributed to the general resilience of the pharma market — there’s a lot your greatuncle will give up before he skimps on the prescription meds, let alone the incontinence pants — there’s no doubt that it is remarkable to serve up the growth numbers that Dis-chem has produced in this market.

Like-for-like turnover is up 8.6%, 19 new stores have been opened, and margins have improved as increased market share meant the group could negotiate better trade terms with suppliers. Its distribution arm now has the wholesale space it needs to serve the group’s growth in the medium term, and it is looking to grow market share by increasing supply to franchisees and independent pharmacies.

It’s a remarkably sure-footed performance from a quality operator that should continue to confound the tepid consumer environment.

Vertu: too bling for the average civilian, and yet insufficiently ostentatious to attract the eye of the gold Lamborghini market