Pepkor, the South African company behind the PEP and Ackermans discount rate clothing brands, prepares to make its womenswear shops more upmarket to tap midtoupper income consumers as it looks for a. bigger share of the adult wear market.

The retailer, which also offers electronic devices, has a dominant. market share in children's wear in South Africa through its. largest organization PEP along with Ackermans.

In the last five years it has actually been expanding into womenswear. through its Ackerman's Female standalone shops.

Last year it began a review of the Ackermans Female offering,. with a footprint of 57 shops, and has actually now decided to revamp it.

Chief Operations Officer Sean Cardinaal told investors that. the retailer will release the brand-new rebranded and revamped. womanswear format shops towards the second quarter of 2025.

On the proposition, it will be aimed much more at the. mid-to-upper end market sector, he said.

We actually believe this will be a strong advance in. Pepkor's technique to gain more market share in womenswear.

Pepkor also sells adult wear through its Dunns and Refinery. clothing brand names.

Pepkor reported operating profit development of 4% at 5.1 billion. rand ($ 277.43 million) in the 6 months to the end of March due. to profits development of 43.3 billion rand, up 9.5%, buoyed by. back-to-school sales and strong Easter trade.

The seller likewise said import supply chain interruptions at. local ports, due to underinvestment by state-owned logistics. company Transnet in infrastructure, negatively affected in-store. item availability.

Early in the year Pepkor had over a billion rand worth of. products sitting at the ports however that's less than half that. now, Chief Executive Pieter Erasmus told Reuters.

The ports are still about a month behind in terms of. working through things ... (We need) to make sure we do not bring. in winter season stock too late due to the fact that then we have to mark it down,. he stated.

The seller's providers are redirecting deliveries to ports. that are not full and Pepkor also plans to generate items a. month earlier than typical.