Pick n Pay Chief Executive Sean Summers has revealed extensive plans for store upgrades across South Africa as the retailer aggressively pursues a national turnaround strategy. These physical enhancements are central to the retailer’s effort to restore stability and return to profitability after reporting cumulative losses of roughly R4 billion in the 2024 and 2025 financial years.

The store renewal programme involves major refurbishments and the conversion of existing locations into modern Hypermarkets, aimed at delivering more value, greater variety, and convenience to customers. The group plans to complete 17 store revamps and re-opens before the end of the year.

New Hypermarket Format Showcased

The new format stores are designed as one-stop shopping destinations to cater to a larger customer base. The Hypermarket renewal programme kicked off in September 2025 with the opening of the first hypermarket in Pietermaritzburg, a conversion of the existing supermarket at Midlands Liberty Mall.

More recently, Pick n Pay unveiled a fully revamped Hypermarket in Klerksdorp, positioning it as a model for the refreshed formats. The Klerksdorp Hypermarket is set to be the model store for the North-West Province. Over the next two months, the retailer is planning Hypermarket conversions and new-look stores in Ottery and Longbeach. Looking ahead to next year, major renovations are planned for the Pick n Pay Waterfront, Sea Point, Canal Walk, and La Lucia Mall supermarkets.

These modern stores feature significantly expanded offerings, including a broader General Merchandise section. Shoppers can now expect enhanced tech and appliances, DIY and tools, outdoor and garden essentials, home storage, and kitchenware. The outdoor living section, including braais, patio furniture, and pool accessories, has also been enhanced.

The fresh food offering is also receiving a substantial upgrade, now featuring gourmet butcheries, frozen meats and fish, a biltong bar, and a convenient ‘Grab & Go’ counter offering hot meals. The grocery aisles are also broadening, adding bulk cleaning products, catering supplies, sweets, and pet care.

Strategic Store Reset Nears Completion

The physical revamps follow a crucial, albeit challenging, phase of Pick n Pay’s turnaround: the Store Estate Reset programme. This initiative involved trimming the retail footprint by closing underperforming stores, allowing the group to focus on profitability off a smaller base.

Over the last year, Pick n Pay reduced its company-owned and franchise supermarkets by a net 59 stores. The optimization of the store estate successfully removed a large number of loss-making stores from the system. The company confirmed that this reset programme is now largely complete, with only a handful of stores still set to close.

CEO Summers noted that the trimmed-down store estate allows Pick n Pay to serve its customers better and support long-term sustainable growth. This strategic reduction helped improve Pick n Pay’s gross profit margin by 0.4% points.

Financial Progress and Leadership Shift

The group’s recent interim results for the 26 weeks ended 31 August 2025 (H1 FY26) show early signs of recovery, with the headline loss reduced by 56% to R439 million, compared to R803 million in the prior comparable period. Group turnover grew by 4.9% to R58.8 billion.

A major driver of stability is Boxer, Pick n Pay’s discount division, which delivered outstanding results with a market-leading 13.9% turnover growth, reaching R22.52 billion. The capital for the revamps and turnaround was secured following the group’s two-step recapitalization plan, which included a rights offer and the separate listing of Boxer.

The retailer is also navigating a major leadership transition as the founding Ackerman family sold approximately 64 million shares (8.5% of ordinary stock), raising around R1.6 billion in fresh capital. This move followed the 2024 commitment to gradually relinquish control as part of the broader restructuring. Longtime chairman Gareth Ackerman confirmed he will step down after 14 years.

Summers, who returned to the CEO role in 2023, maintains that the mission is to make Pick n Pay “the best supermarket chain in South Africa,” focusing on improving the customer offer, accelerating like-for-like sales, and establishing a sustainable future-fit business. Pick n Pay’s core segment is still not profitable at the trading level, but management is confident that ongoing operational streamlining will gradually bring the business back toward profitability, with one analyst believing the group will break even ahead of the 2028 target.

To put this strategic shift into perspective, Pick n Pay is rebuilding its foundation, similar to a homeowner who decides to sell off unused land (loss-making stores) and then invest the capital into completely renovating and modernizing the main house (core Pick n Pay and Hypermarkets) to maximize efficiency and appeal to new buyers.