Cotton On continues SA expansion

Cape Town - Australia-based retail group Cotton On has reported double-digit growth every month since the group opened its first store in South Africa in 2011.

The group will add 40 stores to its 130 store footprint by Christmas and an additional 60 stores in the first half of 2016, it said on Tuesday.
 
Furthermore, three of its South African stores – Sandton City, V&A Waterfront and Gateway – are in the Cotton On Group’s global top 10 stores in terms of turnover – with the flagship Sandton City store still the best performing store world-wide.
 
Group chief financial officer Michael Hardwick said South Africa is the regional hub for the group’s development in the entire sub-Saharan market and Johannesburg was one of the first regional offices outside its headquarters in Australia.

“The South African team led the development of our first Namibia operation in May this year, which was our first new country expansion driven outside of Australia. We are continually looking for new regions where we see strong potential for the Cotton On brand, and the positive signs from Namibia confirm the business’ huge potential in the broader sub-Saharan region,” said Hardwick.
 
The group is also currently exploring opportunities for establishing local sourcing partnerships in either South Africa or a neighbouring country.