Nyanga spaza shop turns modern supermarket

FROM spaza shop to a supermarket stocking more than 1 000 product lines – following an innovative spaza modernisation programme, Nyanga businesswoman Khosi Liwani, 45, saw her dream of expanding her retail business come true last week with the opening of her brand new store, the Ndwamba Market.

Ndwamba was kitted out with new refrigeration and IT systems and stocked with more than 1000 lines of edible and non-edible groceries, fresh produce and perishables. Services like money transfer, ticketing, airtime and data, bill payments, lottery tickets and prepaid electricity were also added to the store’s list of offerings.

The opening comes after Liwani took part in Pick n Pay’s innovative spaza modernisation programme, which combined cutting-edge systems and retailing techniques with the traditional format to create a unique township shopping experience.

She said: “The block had six shops on it and I was running three of them. It had been my dream to expand, I even told my husband that we should take out a loan to break down the three shops and turn it into one.”

Liwani said while she had been thinking of how to expand, Pick n Pay approached her.

“I wanted to partner with a big brand for a while but I did not want to pay the franchise fees because they can be high,” she said.

“Now we’ll be the only branded supermarket in Nyanga.”

Liwani said she had expanded from 10 employees to 25.

“In the next five years, I want to open another store. Retail is what I love,” Liwani said.

Her advice to upcoming entrepreneurs was: “Do not give up, hard work pays.”

The project is a collaborative effort between Pick n Pay, the Old Mutual Foundation, Masisizane Fund, Brimstone, the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism and the City of Cape Town.

Through the programme they upgrade spaza shops to meet the needs of customers and communities, helping to grow a new generation of modern retail entrepreneurs.

Pick n Pay deputy chief executive Richard van Rensburg said: “This programme is proof that there is space for both large and small retailers in the modern economy and shows we can work together to unlock exciting new opportunities.”