Bad Edcon decisions are catching up
SOME of the finest retail merchants in the world were educated at Edcon, “At Edgars, only the brands play on” (May 29). Wherever you travel in the world of retail you will find South Africans, all schooled and educated there.
Edcon was always the place from which expertise was recruited. These people went on to grow and prosper in all spheres of the industry across South Africa and the world.
They understood the South African consumer; they knew how to build businesses to invest in future generations and to provide for the aspirations of all budding South African retailers. Above all, they understood the needs and wants of their customers.
At a point, lousy leadership forced changes at management level, and large numbers of these merchants were either retrenched or took packages to leave. This left a void of wisdom and knowledge.
The second historical change was new management’s focus on short-term results and wealth creation, making them wealthy but weakening the future of the organisation.
The lesson for businesses going through difficult times: don’t get rid of the institutional knowledge, because it will catch up. That is the biggest problem with Edcon.
Can Edcon make a comeback? Difficult to predict. Do they have the right people to really achieve a turnaround? Possibly. Do they understand the South African consumer? Unlikely. — Clive Richards, by e-mail I PURCHASED my clothes from Edgars for many years, but when it discontinued the oversize clothing items, and told me that the reason for doing so was a result of poor sales, I stopped shopping there.
I now go to a small familyrun shop, which has all the clothing I want, in my size, and will get it for me if it does not have it. Perhaps if Edgars listened to its customers when they complained about poor service it might not be in the pickle it is in today. — Peter Denton, Springs EDCON’S CNA unit apparently struggles to make profits as book and magazine sales slump.
I’ve been supporting CNA for 43 years now, as a magazine and book client mostly. The most appalling prices are those of imported men’s interest titles, such as Guns & Ammo, AIR International and AirForces Monthly, to name a few of the nearly 12 titles I usually bought. The price of AIR International has rocketed to R199 an issue — impossible to buy unless I win the Lotto!
The reason, I believe, is ad valorem tax, now at 110% for magazines. Please get Edcon to tackle the Department of Trade and Industry on this tax issue and lower prices accordingly, and you’ll see us men flood back. — Dave Verster, Cape Town