Mr Tekkie’s new tack on new track

• Former management and staff of the Star retailer say they will open their doors in time for annual Christmas shopping spree

Tekkie Town founder Braam van Huyssteen, who is embroiled in acrimonious litigation with Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star), says he will launch his new retail chain ahead of the Christmas shopping period.

The new chain, Mr Tekkie, is preparing to open outlets across the country in late November, a development that will undoubtedly be another distraction for the hierarchy of Star, who have had their hands full with legal claims relating to a bonus scheme and a constructive dismissal case brought by Van Huyssteen.

Star’s share price, which had recovered to R21 a share in April, fell into a slump following revelations that the company had issued a guarantee to cover staff loans, as well as the walkout of staff from Tekkie Town in June. Star’s share price closed 0.12% down at R16.52 on Monday.

Van Huyssteen believes it is a good time to start afresh. “There are lots of struggling retailers, so we might get an injection by taking over some leases, but regardless, we think we can open 50 to 60 stores a year.”

Van Huyssteen, as the controlling shareholder, will be joined by Tekkie Town’s previous CEO and COO, Bernard Mostert and Dawie van Niekerk, who will also be coming in as minority shareholders.

A “sizeable” portion of the shareholding will be reserved for employees, says Mostert.

Star said they are consulting their legal advisers regarding a breach of the trio’s restraint of trade agreements.

Mostert, who will assume the role of CEO of Mr Tekkie, says the offering will be “significantly different” in terms of the composition of its merchandise than that of Tekkie Town.

“Mr Tekkie will be a broadspectrum multibrand retailer focused on both apparel and footwear, but with a few differentiating factors that we think consumers will enjoy supporting,” says Mostert.

“This will include jeans, branded apparel, and related accessories with a predominantly athleisure [athletic leisure] composition,” the Mr Tekkie CEO added.

The new chain will be more likely to compare with offerings under TFG, including Sportscene and Totalsports.

But the decision not to compete head-on with Tekkie Town is also strategic.

“We believe our shareholding in Tekkie Town will be restored to us through the various legal actions we have instituted, and as such we envisage we will be managing both side-by-side in the future,” says Mostert.

The trio might well be joined by more Tekkie Town staff, says Van Huyssteen.

“I have a suspicion that old Tekkie Town staff might want to come and work for us. I am inundated with people who want to leave Tekkie Town and join us,” he said.

Star chair Jayendra Naidoo rejected Van Huyssteen’s claim about further staff resignations.

“There have been no further resignations and Tekkie Town is now busy employing new people in place of those who left.

“On the contrary, existing business operations are now running normally and we anticipate this will continue,” he said.