Spar CEO acknowledges management mistakes behind retailer’s struggles

Newly appointed Spar CEO Reeza Isaacs. Picture: Supplied Spar Group CEO Reeza Isaacs has acknowledged a series of management failures that contributed to the retailer’s disappointing performance, saying costs were allowed to outpace revenue growth and that profitability was not given sufficient priority. The admission forms part of the group’s efforts to rebuild credibility and improve execution across the business.

He was commenting on the group’s performance for the six months ending 27 March 2026. Isaacs took over fromformer CEO Angelo Swartz on 1 March. The group said that, under Isaacs’ leadership, Spar will refocus the business on its core engine: the independent retailers.

The group released its interim results for the six months on Wednesday, revealing a period of significant pressure, with operating profit affected by three main challenges: underperformance in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), an ineffective Black Friday campaign that failed to deliver a return on investment, and residual balance sheet clean-ups. The retailer acknowledged its challenges, but cited that this period of difficulty is a “clear baseline against which progress and recovery can be measured”. “These are not market problems; they are execution problems, and they are fixable.

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We allowed our cost base to outgrow revenue for too long,” said Isaacs. “We allowed our cost base to outgrow revenue for too long. We also failed to treat retailer profitability as our primary metric.

Confronting these issues openly is a necessary step in building credibility and ensuring that future performance is grounded in accountability and measurable execution.” The retailer said it is shifting its focus from supplier to true partner for retailers, guided by the principle that “Spar succeeds when our retailers succeed”. The group’s recovery strategy is built around improving retailer outcomes first, based on the belief that stronger retailers create stronger volumes, stronger loyalty and ultimately a stronger Spar system. “While the interim numbers are under pressure, Spar’s leadership believes early indicators suggest that the corrective actions underway are beginning to gain traction,” said the retailer. In support of the retailer’s recovery strategy, Spar has intensified engagement with independent retailers and the National Guild to ensure retailer concerns are heard and resolved more quickly, and is moving from ambition to action through five pillars of execution:

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