Mr Tekkie waiting in the wings in sneaker war
SOUTH Africa’s sneaker wars took a new turn yesterday when Tekkie Town founder Braam van Huyssteen announced that he was planning to launch a rival group that would take the fight to the Pepkor Holdings subsidiary.
Van Huyssteen said the new group, which would be called Mr Tekkie, would open its doors nationwide in November.
He said Mr Tekkie would be an omni-channel enterprise aimed at serving South Africans with branded apparel and footwear.
“Mr Tekkie represents a great opportunity for us. While others may be negative about South Africa and its prospects, we understand the underlying resilience and optimism that drive South Africans from all walks of life,” Van Huyssteen said.
The launch comes after Van Huyssteen resigned from Tekkie Town with immediate effect in May following a dispute over a bonus scheme and the terms of his employment contract.
Van Huyssteen and his partners sold the business to Steinhoff International in 2016 and it is now owned by Steinhoff subsidiary Pepkor.
However, Cratos Capital senior analyst Ron Klipin said Pepkor might take Mr Tekkie to court for the use of the name which was similar to its Tek- kie Town brand. “This can also have an impact on the roll-outs of new stores with court cases might take longer to rule on the case should Pepkor challenge the use of the name,” he said.
Van Huyssteen said legal threats would not delay the launch as they were still fighting to regain Tekkie Town.
He said Mr Tekkie would be managed by an experienced team that include former Pepkor’s Speciality Division chief executive Bernard Mostert, former chief operating officer Dawie van Niekerk, Gert Claassens, Michael Brown and Willem Wait. Van Huyssteen said Mostert would become Mr Tekkie’s chief executive.
Mostert said Van Huyssteen would, as the main investor, bring South Africa a new story with a positive narrative.
Mostert said the team would manage the two companies side by side from his George premises should the court rule in their favour for ownership of Tekkie Town.
“Van Huyssteen is currently in the process of evicting Pepkor from these premises, which Pepkor is currently occupying,” he said.
“We are highly confident that we can create a bright future for those who want to invest their careers in retail.”
Klipin said it would take a while for Mr Tekkie to compete as it would require huge amounts of capital.
Klipin said Mr Tekkie would not bring an immediate threat to Tekkie Town’s hold on the sneakers market. He added that its success would also depend on the location of its stores.
“However, they will need to take it one day at a time in order to make their mark in the market,” Klipin said.