S T O R E WAT C H

From Cash & Carry to elegant hyper

By Laura Durham
A 9 000m2 store is big. But, says owner of Save Hyper, Moosa Noorgat, thats not big enough yet! Save Cash & Carry has been rebuilt, refurbished and rebranded in bright pink and green, and the new Save Hyper is Pietermaritzburgs first hypermarket. Despite its size, the hyper has been designed with the customer in mind incorporating the convenience of a daily shop in a hyper environment.

The making of Save Hyper, Pietermaritzburg

heavy type racking that is normally used in this type of store. The entire layout of the store was designed to maximise stock holding (shelves were made 2.4m high versus the standard 1.8m) and to maximise the shopping experience for customers. For example, an average supermarket aisle is 2.2m the aisles at Save Hyper are 3m. Signage has also been kept to a minimum and point-of-sale material is minimal to avoid aisle clutter. Freislich says that all systems air conditioning, refrigeration, lighting and equipment were chosen as being ecofriendly as possible without compromising on display quality. As customers go through the entrance they are met with a brightly lit store and walk through a florist (registered with Interflora) and party supplies before reaching an array of departments with an open invitation to explore and indulge. A lot of thought also went into creating different lighting moods throughout the store. Because they wanted to change to the retail market and relaunch the store accordingly, they wanted a very stand-out

At 9 000m2, Save Hyper is a serious contender in the supermarket game in Pietermaritzburg and beyond.

Store: Save Hyper Transactions per day: 4 500 Trading area: 9 000m2 Staff complement: 500 600 Tills: 52 Opening hours: 7am 7pm Monday Sunday
Converting a cash & carry warehouse feel to a retail space took detailed planning and extra care was given to create the soft look of the new store. We didnt want customers to notice the roof structure of the shed as they walked in, which we achieved by suspending lights throughout the store and creating wide aisles and high shelving, says Freislich. Andrew Bailey, director of First Storage Concepts KZN says that 80 bays of longspan shelving were incorporated into the gondola shelving layout as it offers a more suitable and subtle way of merchandising heavy bulk products, other than using the

Fresh design
Leon Freislich of Freislich Design Consultants was given carte blanche over the store concept and design. The result? One of the biggest multi-million investments by a local business in the city in 2011 and a whopping 9 000m2 of retail excitement.

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Two level store

In South Africa, multi-level stores dont seem to work but Save Hypers mezzanine level is disproving this theory completely. The mezzanine level is accessible by a lift, staircase and specially built travelator and holds an impressive range of general merchandise. From small and large appliances, linen, beds and a dedicated toy shop Save Hyper has it all. They also have a Vodashop, their own travel agency Save Travel and a range of Apple products on offer since they are a licensed reseller. Noorgat says the general merchandise turnover has increased 60% since the move to the mezzanine level. The travelator is situated near the entrance to invite customers up to explore, trolleys and all. Freislich says the mezzanine level used to house the groups offices (now moved to Victoria Country Club) but the walls have been knocked out to open up the level to the entire store. In addition to the general merchandise above, the store also has a full DIY and gardening range of power tools and lawnmowers, as well as a sophisticated clothing section.

lighting effect that would differentiate themselves in this new segment and to eventually become known throughout the country, comments Klaus Ritschewald, MD of Euroconcepts. He adds that lights, sourced from Germany, were carefully selected for each department to accent the particular area and food product on offer.

Focus on shopping experience

Although a hyper, the store is geared towards easy everyday shopping. The carefully chosen fixtures and lighting make the very large store still have that look and feel that one would associate with a smaller, gourmet-style supermarket of around 1 000m2, comments Ritschewald. So, the dairy, frozen and service departments have been strategically positioned at the front of the store for customer convenience. This allows customers to get their daily bread and milk and leave through the express tills, instead of having to walk miles through the store, he says. And thats the beauty of the whole shop weve got a store within a store concept,

Save Hyper tried to keep most departments in-house but those where superior skills are needed, like the butchery, have been outsourced.

adds Noorgat. Customers can therefore choose a number of routes, depending on their shopping mission: Explore the service departments on their right, head straight to the frozen, chilled and dairy section with walk-in coolers for bulk packs, go left for all dry groceries or travel upstairs for gadgets and general merchandise.

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Fresh and locally sourced fruit and vegetables are drawing customers to the fresh department.

River and Greytown. The store is strategically located on Victoria road, less than 2km from the N3 highway. Noorgat says there is a growing black middle class in Pietermaritzburg and these aspirational shoppers are looking for top quality products and added value exactly what Save Hyper offers its customers everyday from 7am to 7pm. The 52 checkouts, including the express tills, ease congestion and the NCR system in place makes scanning much quicker than normal. Because the faster you get a customer out, the faster you get another one in, says Noorgat.
Thembekile Phungula says the most popular confectionery items at La Baguette are cake slices and doughnuts.

Catering to all tastes

The store has an extensive home meal replacement (HMR) offering under its indulge concept. From crumbed chicken to

The fully stocked dispensary enables customers to get prescriptions filled and make use of the infant immunisation and wellness tests offered by the clinic sister on-site. The pharmacy is conveniently located near the express checkouts, next to the lift and facing onto the health section of the supermarket area. Each department is run as a stand-alone business and this motivates staff to work hard and to keep pushing the envelope. The store has nearly 600 staff members from the surrounding areas and they will be going on regular training programmes to keep them learning and improving. Noorgat says there are also 30 staff members on a learnership programme at present.

Asian stir-fries to hot Indian curries, customers can have it all. There is also a pizza station where customers can tailor make their own pizzas. The 40-seater restaurant gives customers a comfortable space to relax with a cup of coffee or quick meal in-between or after their shopping. The whole HMR area has been designed as a theatre of food, with the wok and grillers situated on the shop floor. They will also be introducing wet demos on weekends so customers can sample everything on the menu. New to Pietermaritzburg, the stores fish shop is doing extremely well and they are getting fresh fish deliveries from Durban everyday to keep up with the demand. The head of the department is very experienced and offers advice to customers on how best to prepare their chosen seafood.

Hyper hub
Save Hyper has become a destination store for Pietermaritzburg, as well as the surrounding small towns of Howick, Mooi
The store has an extensive home meal replacement (HMR) offering under its indulge concept. Customers can sit at the 40-seater restaurant or take away from the deli or pizza station.

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The fresh department is also doing very well, says Noorgat, with a strong presence of Indian vegetables that are locally sourced. The next addition to the offering will be prepacked chopped vegetable packs. The butchery offers a range of Halaal, prepacked and counter meats, as well as a full biltong bar. Save Hyper tried to keep most departments in-house but those where superior skills are needed, like the butchery, have been outsourced. We didnt have the skills so we decided to get the best to do it for us, Noorgat explains. 60% of the stores offering comes from Saves 20 000m2 distribution centre (DC), which also services the three Save supermarkets in Northdale, Truro Plaza and Dalton. Management hopes to build their own bigger DC in the near future, as they are currently leasing the DC warehouse. Save Hyper has some house brands in the commodities section, with Real (house brand) outselling the leading maize brand. They also have their own milk label Simply Fresh which is packed by a dairy in the Midlands. The 530m2 bakery department runs along the back right corner and the freshly baked range is extensive. Noorgat says they first brought in the expertise of a French baker who was supplying products that were then baked off in-store. Now, the bakery staff have learnt from his recipes and are trying out scratch baking with delicious results! Cinnamon buns, stone ground breads, doughnuts and gateaux slices are doing extremely well with the new retail customer base.

Aspirational phrases throughout the store relate to customers positive shopping experiences at Save Hyper no doubt aided by the 52 tills and novelty of a travelator up to the mezzanine level.

New to Pietermaritzburg, the stores fish shop is doing extremely well and the head of the department offers advice to customers on how best to prepare their chosen seafood. The 530m2 bakery department runs along the back right corner and the freshly baked range is extensive.

Change in customer profile

From trading as a cash & carry to a hyper, there has been a noticeable change in the customer base of the store. Traditionally, customers were LSM 4-7 but now there are many more affluent shoppers coming to the store. The focus on retail means that single units are predominant on shelves but customers can still buy bulk packs should they wish. Although some customers stopped shopping at the store during its renovation, many are coming back as they are loyal to the Save brand. Weve just given the LSM 4 customer an aspirational shop that is tiled, air conditioned and well lit. But the value proposition on which the business is built is still there for them, says Noorgat. He says one of the challenges that has faced management since the reopening

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in October is ranging and merchandising which obviously needs to suit the new hybrid customer base. Save Hyper runs on SAP and this fully-fledged system gives reliable on-time data to head office. It lets us keep our finger on the pulse, he says. Moosas son, Mohamed, joined the family business in 2004 after completing his degree and CA articles at KPMG. It was his vision to move into retail and as finance director, he has been responsible for the roll-out of the supermarkets and hyper to date. Another challenge the store has faced and continues to face is the lack of parking space, although this did increase from 200 to 300 parking bays during the revamp. In addition, two entrances to the lot were created from Greyling Street and Victoria Road and the pavement areas on both streets were upgraded; at the groups own cost.

The 9 000m2 store is characterised by bright lighting, wide aisles and high shelving all of which contribute to a pleasant shopping experience.

Promotions draw feet

Save Hyper uses the local press extensively for marketing and promotions and Noorgat says the leaflets each week draw in the crowds for weekends, their busiest trading period. They have also introduced the Think Pink promotion each quarter, which rewards every customer who spends R400 or more in the store with a R50 cash-back immediately after handing in their till slip. They also run a Christmas promotion with the Vodashop whereby every person to sign a contract during that period would get one of 1 000 plane seats to Dubai.
The fully stocked dispensary enables customers to get prescriptions filled and make use of the infant immunisation and wellness tests offered by the clinic sister on-site.

Save Hyper contributes products, stock or computers to the community, depending whats needed, to a number of orphanages in Pietermaritzburg and beyond.

Save at the sea

Noorgat says the store is still small and there is room to bring in more departments, such as sporting goods and jewellery, in the future. But at the moment, the focus is on getting each category to excel. Save will continue to focus on its low margin, low operating cost business model to ensure it meets customers expectations of a value-for-money shopping experience. There are also plans to revamp the Save Supermarket at Truro Plaza and to open up new stores in Durban by 2013.

The general merchandise turnover has increased 60% since the move to the mezzanine level, which is accessible by a lift, staircase and specially built travelator. From small and large appliances, linen, beds and a dedicated toy shop Save Hyper has it all.

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