The opening of Eastern Cape discount clothing retailer Jumbo's High Street outlet marks the chain’s 30th store in the province. The store's general manager just has one major concern about the Grahamstown venture – crime.
The opening of Eastern Cape discount clothing retailer Jumbo's High Street outlet marks the chain’s 30th store in the province. The store's general manager just has one major concern about the Grahamstown venture – crime.
"We’ve only been open a few weeks and already we’ve been broken into, there are pick-pockets outside and guys trying to take chances inside,” said general manager, Robert Foxcroft.
A presence in Grahamstown has long been a goal for Jumbo, which already has established branches from Mdantsane to Uitenhage.
“We’ve just battled to get space here because of all the monuments,” explained general manager Robert Foxcroft, but this obstacle was overcome and the move became another success for the chain's overall strategy to have a store in every town in the area.
Some might be sceptical though, especially in a small consumer pool like Grahamstown where margins are already slim, about what makes Jumbo so confident that their business model will win out?
“Well, it is easy to be cheap,” explained Foxcroft, but their goal is to be cheap while maintaining good quality he said.
"We also stock big brands which most of our competitors don’t do, and we believe we understand our customer very well.”
Jumbo also brings good news for local job seekers: their policy is to train and employ staff in the vicinity of their stores.
Local jobs
Foxcroft said the branch manager was trained in Port Elizabeth, but comes from Grahamstown, and the seven other permanent staff and handful of casuals are also all locals.
The Bizana branch (between Umtata and Durban) opened just days afterwards and has had no such issues he reported. Grahamstown's economy will no doubt benefit from this vote of confidence from a successful enterprise, but it can ill afford the petty crime that may frighten off other investments in the future.
