Spar’s plan to fix itself

The Spar Group is in the process of making its most important appointment in easily the last five years, maybe 10. And it’s not the CEO. CFO Reeza Isaacs has been confirmed in that role following the abrupt exit of CEO Angelo Swartz at the end of February, with former COO Megan Pydigadu moving to the CFO position.

The group has had three CEOs in roughly three years (after chair Mike Bosman stepped in as executive chair in 2023). When updating the market on Sens on 23 February, Isaacs said the wholesaler will be appointing a dedicated MD for the Southern African grocery and liquor business “within the next two months”. The role will be based in Pinetown, “which will be close to operations” and this “will be an internal appointment”.

“So, they bring institutional knowledge, they bring operational capability and deep retailer relationships,” says Isaacs. The appointment is imminent. This role is absolutely critical to bridge the gap between the corporate head office (Isaacs and Pydigadu) and the group’s main customers: its retailers.

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Swartz spent much of his time being ‘bogged down’ in dealing with retailer partners, some of which he had decade-long relationships with given his previous roles as MD of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal divisions – which was incredibly time-consuming. If Spar gets this appointment right, it will go a long way to improving trust and loyalty from its retailers. Isaacs is many things, but a seasoned retailer he is not.

Pick n Pay’s Sean Summers is aretailer. Shoprite’s Pieter Engelbrecht is aretailer. Even Roy Bagattini of Woolworths is aretailer, albeit more an apparel-focused one.

So too was Richard Brasher (Pick n Pay, and before that Tesco in the UK) aretailer. Shoprite founder Whitey Basson was aretailer.

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