South African fashion retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) plans to close a further 180 stores over the next three financial years as it looks to reduce costs and improve profitability amid rapid growth in online shopping.
TFG, which owns brands including Foschini, Sportscene and Markham, recorded sales growth of 0.2% to R23 billion for the 21 weeks ended 22 August.
Its African operations performed better, with sales increasing by 3.4% over the period.
The retailer closed 85 stores that were deemed no longer “economically viable”, while opening 25 new outlets during the period.
TFG expects about 80 additional stores to meet its closure criteria during the 2027 financial year. A further 100 stores are projected to be closed over the following two financial years.
The group said the store rationalisation forms part of its broader strategy to structurally reduce costs and improve the efficiency of its retail network.
At the same time, TFG's online business continued to show strong growth.
Group online revenue increased by 15.3% during the period, with digital sales accounting for 15.9% of total group revenue.
The retailer recorded particularly strong growth in its African online operations, where sales jumped 54.1%.
TFG attributed much of this growth to its Bash e-commerce platform, with online sales in Africa increasing their contribution to total sales from 7.1% in the previous period to 10.5%.
The shift towards online shopping comes as TFG continues to review its physical store footprint and focus investment on areas offering stronger growth and profitability.