BACK OFFICE
advertorial
By traders
for traders
With an established footprint in the FMCG food market, EST Africa has opened
its DIY voluntary buying group. The focus is now on sharing knowledge and
margins with its members and growing the DIY footprint nationally.
In January 2012, EST Africa launched
its voluntary buying group within
the South African DIY and hardware
industry. The launch of this DIY group
comes on the success created by EST’s food
buying group established six years earlier.
At this moment, EST boasts 82 retail outlets
belonging to the group nationally.
“When one considers the successful
DIY and hardware groups within the South
African landscape, the majority are built on
the foundation laid by a successful FMCG
background,” says Louis Greeff, Managing
Director from EST. Some of the groups
he refers to include Builders Warehouse,
Cashbuild and Build it.
Members of the EST group continue to trade
under their respective trading names, with no
pressure to change to a corporate structure.
“The current stores are all exceptionally
successful, but they see trouble on the horizon
with the numerous changes in the industry
and want the competitive advantage of ‘a big
daddy’ to level the playing field,” explains
Greeff.
The group’s success in the FMCG
industry was a logical choice for many of the
Need to know more?
No franchise fees
Any profits incurred by EST returned to
members/shareholders as dividends
Limited effective corporate structure
82 stores
Established 2012 (Elite Star Trading 1997)
22
HARDWARE AFRICA 2013
From left to right – Mohamed Varachia (merchandise director), Louis Greef (managing director),
Justice Cooke (hardware buyer) and seated Rob Suttle (merchandise director).
independents joining the group. “Our aim is to
represent our members on a different level. We
will offer the width and depth of distribution to
suppliers, whilst the members can continue to
do what they do best – trade,” he says. Greeff
continued to explain that head office will be a
place for suppliers to go and talk about their
strategy, and not a place where the core focus
will be on price only.
Where members already have wellestablished relationships with suppliers, head
office will not interfere, however, where it can
build a new relationship on a member’s behalf
is where EST believes it could add value to
its members. ‘We will help to level the playing
field,” says Greeff.
“When we consider the current DIY
landscape, we feel it is roughly 15 years
behind the FMCG industry, however, our
members can apply our knowledge of the
FMCG industry and catch up within five
years,” explains Greeff. The management team
at EST will help stores with merchandising as
well as design aspects of stores and will help
to negotiate credit card fees, which will benefit
smaller stores.
For more info...
Rob Suttle or Mohamed Varachia
Tel: 011-383-1900