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Ellerines: sixty-four and still going strong Despite tough economic times, furniture retailer Ellerines continues to offer value for its customers, both old and new By Denise Mhlanga
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ack in 1950, furniture retailer Ellerines started out with one store in Germiston, Gauteng. In 2014, the retailer – which targets the LSM 3 to 6 group – has grown its store numbers significantly while making life easier for its customers. Robert Dodds, chief marketing and retail officer for Ellerines Holdings Limited (EHL) explains that Geen & Richards is an award-winning brand, having been voted the leading brand in furniture retail for five consecutive years, thanks to the trust relationship it has with its customers. It enables customers to reach for their dreams – to buy quality furniture at affordable prices with low monthly instalments. In fact, Ellerines was the first furniture retailer in South Africa to sell goods on credit, thus fully living up to its promise of making life easier for its customers. Dodds emphasises the fact that Ellerines prides itself on the value it can offer without compromising on quality.
“We spent the past four years adjusting our stores in line with market conditions,” he says. “For example, we had a number of stores on Church Street in Pietermaritzburg, so as the leases came up for renewal, these were consolidated to do away with overlaps.” All EHL stores are leased. The portfolio consists of 572 Ellerines stores across South Africa, 196 Beares, 34 Furniture City stores, 74 Geen & Richards, 60 Dial-a-Bed outlets and 28 Wetherlys, and an additional 78 stores in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zambia. Dodds says EHL has enormous brand equity. Two-thirds of the portfolio has been revamped and rebranded, and now offers superior quality across the board. Wetherlys, for example, is a decorator’s hub with everything under one roof; Geen & Richards is an aspirational brand; while Beares cares – that is its selling point.
Retailer history and property portfolio
“Ellerines is a brand of choice because of its community affiliation and loyal customers” Robert Dodds, chief marketing and retail officer for Ellerines Holdings
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The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company African Bank Investments Limited – a market leader in the personal unsecured credit market in South Africa – acquired EHL in 2008 for R9,2-billion, and in October 2013 wrote off R4,6-billion in debt on the unprofitable business. (According to EHL, it’s only last year that the company did not make a profit.) African Bank provides credit to EHL retail stores. While, of late, there has been talk of African Bank wanting to sell Ellerines, it says it is looking at strategic partnerships with the retailer, noting that Ellerines gives the bank access to the biggest distribution footprint in the country. Dodds explains 14 brands within EHL have been consolidated into six: Ellerines, Beares, Geen & Richards, Furniture City, Diala-Bed and Wetherlys.
SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW
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2014/03/07 12:24 PM