Cosatu urges TFG to reconsider closure of 280 stores in Africa
In South Africa, the Cosatu trade union federation has called on The Foschini Group (TFG) to reconsider its plan to cease operations at 280 retail outlets in Africa over the next three financial years. The federation said this could leave many workers without jobs, TimesLIVE reports.
Reasons for the closures
According to Cosatu, the group explained the decision by several factors, including the growth of online sales, which exceeded the performance of physical stores. The union said that some of the planned closures had already been completed this year.
TFG owns the Foschini, Sportscene, Markham, Total Sports, Fabiani, Exact, Sterns, @home and Street Fever brands. The TFG Africa network has 3,432 retail outlets in South Africa, 19 in Lesotho, 21 in Eswatini, 28 in Zambia, 100 in Namibia and 64 in Botswana.
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Cosatu's position and TFG's figures
Cosatu said the company should engage with employees in good faith and seek alternatives to closing retail outlets. The federation also referred to the labour market situation in South Africa: according to its data, the country's economy grew by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate stood at 43.8%.
In its annual integrated report for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, TFG reported a 7.2% increase in revenue to 67.1 billion rand. At the same time, operating profit before brand impairments and acquisition-related costs fell by 22.1% to 4.9 billion rand. Headline earnings declined by 33.5%, while total dividends fell by 30.8%.
In a statement on June 5, TFG CEO Anthony Thunström said weaker consumer demand and margin pressure had affected the group's profitability. According to him, the company had been cutting costs, managing inventory, preserving cash and investing in retail, digital and logistics platforms, aiming to develop an omnichannel sales model.
