The Foschini Group is comprised of a number of retail stores throughout South Africa. In 1924, The Foschini Group started trading and was first listed on the JSE Limited since 1941. Today, it is one of the most prominent independent groups of chain stores in the country. To aid its success, Foschini offers merchandise targeted specifically at different target market groups in their respective stores.
What retail stores make up the Foschini Group?
In the retail sector of The Foschini Group, various store sell items such as outdoor and sporting apparel and equipment, jewellery, clothing, accessories, cellular services and goods, and homeware. This merchandise is targeted at South Africa’s the broad middle-income group. The group operates as a credit retailer, with credit sales amounting to a turnover of about 62%.
- @home, branded as @home and @homelivingspace: @home offers a wide range of homeware and home decoration pieces for LSM group 8 to 10; and @homelivingspace offers additional homeware ranges, including both furniture and decor items.
- Exact!: Exact! offers affordable and stylish clothing for both men and women in LSM groups 5 to 8. The clothes are selected to appeal to men and women from the age of 30 in particular. Exact! also stocks footwear and clthing for children of 3 to 12 years, amking ti the ideal store for the whole family.
- The Foschini division, branded as Donna-Claire, Foschini, Fashion Express and Luella: Foschini offers fashionable and trendy womenswear, including clothing, cosmetic and footwear. The store is targeted to the 18 to 35 year old group in the Living Standard Measures (LSM) groups 6 to 10; Donna Claire is aimed at larger women, offering fashionable clothes for all ages within the LSM 6 to 10 category; for women in the LSM 5 to 9 groups, Fashion Express is a fashion value chain; and Luella is a chain store dedicated to shoes and accessories such as handbags at moderate prices.
- Markham: Markham is the largest chain store stocking men’s fashion items in the southern hemisphere. The clothing is of good value and quality and ranges from casual to formal.
- The sports division, branded as Duesouth, Sportscene, and Totalsports: Sportscene offers both fashion and sports products targeted at youthful customers in the LSM 6 to 1 category. The style of the clothing is urban, energised and street-smart; Total Sports is the premier sportswear chain in South Africa, stocking basic sports equipment as well as apparel and international brands; and Duesouth caters to the wildlife and outdoor enthusiast, offering a wide variety of products targeted at LSM categories 8 to 10.
- The jewellery division, branded as Matrix, American Swiss, and Sterns. Sterns is known for its classic and contemporary jewellery design targeted at LSM 7 to 9 groups; American Swiss is the leading jeweller for trendy and fashionable customers that are targeted at the growing middle class; and the Matrix chain is generally aimed at younger customers, offering designer labels in sunglasses and cellphones.
- The Foschini Group also has a retail technology division managing cellphones and related products.
- Other retail departments are The Foschini Group Design Centre and The Foschini Group Merchandise Procurement.
What financial services are offered by The Foschini Group?
The Foschini Group Financial Services are largely in charge of managing the store account and credit card system offered by the company. This department also manages club magazines, insurance products and other financial service products.
An independent business dealing with consumer finance is the RCS Group, providing a wide range of financially-related services in Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. The two operating businesses that fall under the RCS Group are:
- The Fixed Term Finance unit that comprises of insurance products and personal loans.
- The Transactional Finance unit that comprises of RCS Private Label Cards and RCS Cards.