Pep (store)

Retail store chain established in 1965 in South Africa

For the British retail chain, see Pep&Co.

Pep

Industry| Retail
Founded| 1965
Headquarters|

Parow, Cape Town

South Africa

Number of locations

| 1,800 stores

Area served

| Southern Africa

Key people

| Jaap Hamman(MD)
Louis Brand (CD)
(FD)
Products| Clothing foods

Number of employees

| 15,000[1]
Parent| Pepkor
Website| www.pepstores.com

Pep is a multinational retail company based in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1965, Pep operated in 11 countries in Southern Africa with the opening of an outlet in Lobito, Angola in November 2008.[2] As of November 2009, the company reported over 1400 stores in operation, with total employment equalling 14,000 employees. It also owns and runs the largest clothing factory in southern Africa, where it manufactures much of its clothing.[1]

Pep's target market is the mass lower- to middle-income end of the market. As such it seeks to sell low-cost clothes and is the largest single-brand retailer in South Africa. Pep is a subsidiary of Pepkor.[3]

## History[edit]

In 1971, Whitey Basson was approached by Renier van Rooyen to become the financial director of the retail clothing chain that van Rooyen had founded called Pep Stores Ltd (or as it was locally known "Pep"). Van Rooyen was planning to list the company on the JSE as Pepkor.[4] Basson agreed to join the company as financial director and in 1974 became head of operations.[5]

By 1981, Pep had grown to 500 stores, 10 factories, 12 000 employees and a turnover of close to R300 million.[4] At this point Christo Wiese bought out van Rooyen's holdings in Pepkor and became the major shareholder.[6] Wiese became the chairman of Pepkor.

In 2014 Wiese sold Pepkor to Steinhoff International in exchange for about 20% of Steinhoff's issued shares.[7]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "PEP Stores :: Looking and feeling good". pepstores.com. 5 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
2. ^ "PEP eyes fast-growing Angolan market - SouthAfrica.info". southafrica.info. 10 November 2008. Archived from the original on 10 November 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
3. ^ "PEP Stores :: Our leaders". pepstores.com. 5 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
4. ^ a b "Life of Pep Stores founder Renier van Rooyen was a classic rags-to-riches story". Fin24.com. Naspers. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
5. ^ "COVER STORY: Whitey Basson". Accountancy SA. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
6. ^ Whitfield, Bruce. Meet Whitey Basson - the retail genius behind the rise of Shoprite (radio show transcript). 702. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
7. ^ Motsoeneng, Tiisetso (18 March 2019). "Steinhoff ex-chair Christo Wiese open to talks over $4bn claim". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 21 November 2019.