Stuttaford's was a chain of upscale department stores in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia that operated for 159 years from 1858 through 2017. It was nicknamed the "Harrods of South Africa". At closing it had seven stores in South Africa, two in Botswana, and one in Namibia. It continues to operate in Namibia only."News", Stuttafords Namibia official website
History Founder Samson Rickard Stuttaford opened his first shop in 1857 in Cape Town city centre. His son was Richard Stuttaford (b. 1870) was a prominent businessman and entered the firm in 1886. In 1859 Povall & Stuttaford was established. In 1868 the company Thorne, Stuttaford & Co. was established in collaboration with William Thorne.
Its main Cape Town store at the corner of Adderley and Hout streets, opened in 1938, was designed by in-house Harrods architect Louis David Blanc, echoing the style of the London department store's buildings.
In 1978, Graham Beck's Kangra Holdings bought Stuttafords, which at that point had five stores, for 12 million rand. On 24 August 1979 the company was delisted from the stock exchange. Beck stripped the assets, selling the transport and warehousing operations for 10 million rand.
In 1983 he sold the Durban branch to Garlicks. In 1986 he sold Stuttaford's 45% share in Cavendish Square shopping centre. in 1987 he sold the Cape Town Adderley Street flagship store to Unidev for 11 million rand. The store closed 18 April 1987.Marwood, ch. 17
In 1987, what remained of Stuttafords, which by then also included the remaining John Orr's and Garlicks store branches, was sold to Greatermans, another department store, which was part of Kirsh Trading, later Tradegro. The John Orr's and Garlicks branches were rebranded Stuttafords which then had 8 branches. Pepkor acquired Stuttafords in 1992 along with Ackermans, Checkers and Cashbuild. In 1998 Pepkor announced that it planned to sell Stuttafords and focus on its core business, serving low- to lower-middle-income consumers. In 2000, taking control in a deal worth 106 million rand were: the management (35%) and staff (15%) of Stuttafords, and African Merchant Bank Private Equity Partners (AMB PEP, 50%): AMB PEP would later sell to the store management.
In 2000 Stuttafords moved from a model of a complete traditional staid department store to that of a contemporary, specialty department store focusing on apparel, cosmetics and "soft" home goods such as bed and bath linens.Marwood, ch. 19
In 2008, under CEO Marco Cicoria, the store pivoted again, aiming to be the country's leading retailer selling international upmarket brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker, Gap and Banana Republic. This proved to be fatal when in 2015 an economic crisis and reduction in the value of the rand versus the U.S. dollar (on top of a 45% import duty) made the upmarket products extremely expensive in the local currency. Attempts at a bailout failed and in July 2017 the chain closed, except for the Windhoek, Namibia store which was sold off and remains in operation.Marwood, ch. 20 The company was wind up and unlisted on 1 August 2017.
Cape Town flagship store The store at Adderley and Hout streets was the largest and grandest, and formed the central shopping district together with other now-closed department stores such as Garlicks and Fletcher & Cartwright's. In 1957, 993 employees worked here both in the retail store operation and in the head office.Marwood, ebook location 3019
The flagship was a complete department store, as opposed to the smaller department stores focusing on apparel and soft home goods that it would operate starting around the turn of the 21st century. As of 1970, the flagship carried:Marwood, ebook location 3026 ff. Women's and men's apparel and accessories Cosmetics, childrenswear, Luggage Home crafts: dress fabrics, paper patterns, sewings, notions, trimmings, buttons, wools, needlework Home furnishings: carpets, furniture, bedding, some sports, fabrics, lamps, towels, napery, linens, blankets, dinnerware, ornaments, glassware, cutlery, ovenware, kitchenware, hardware, gardening, electrical, radios, gifts, candles Sundries: curios, photography-related, stationery, books, records; Gourmet food hall selling groceries, frozen goods, fish, cakes, sweets, and smokers' requisites
There were two restaurants: Adderley Restaurant and the self-serve Bird Cage restaurant. There were additional concession spaces.
Branches In 2006, Stuttafords had the most stores in its history, 22 in total. In 2009, to restructure to international standards, it closed smaller stores in Somerset West, Woodhill and Hyde Park. Some other stores were downsized or closed before liquidation in 2017, as shown in the table.
Source: John Marwood, The History of Stuttafords Department StoresMarwood, ebook location 3426 Country/ Province/ Metro. areaCommunityShopping centreOpenedClosedSq mupon closing in 2017, if applicable SOUTH AFRICA Western Cape (formerly part of Cape Province) CAPE TOWNM. M. Cape Town CBD Adderley Street 1938 Marwood, ebook location 3198 1938 building at SW corner of Adderley and Hout, through to St Georges Mall. Extended in phases to include most of the block south to Shortmarket. Century City Canal Walk 4,336ClaremontCavendish Square Marwood, ebook location 2715Stuttafords News (internal newspaper), Christmas 1972, p.1 2016Marwood, ebook location 3477March 2013 "Stuttafords Emporium" launched here, 60% larger than the original store.Marwood, ebook location 3434BelvilleTygervalley Centre 2014Marwood, ebook location 3441Somerset West 2009 GAUTENG (formerly part of Transvaal) JOHANNESBURG M. M. Johannesburg CBD SE Corner of Rissik and Pritchard streets 1893/1897 Marwood, ebook location 2847First branch 1893, rebuilt 1897. 10-story building in Pritchard Street erected 1903. Adjacent 6-story building erected in Rissik Street 1928/9.Advertisement for Stuttafords Building semi-abandoned until 2016, now site of Stuttafords House flats.Marwood, ebook location 2933 Sandton Sandton City August 1973 6,2994,645 m2 upon opening (2 sales levels of 1,858 m2 each and one service basement of 929 m2). 6,299 m2 upon closing in 2017.Marwood, ebook locations 3483RoodepoortClearwater Mall May 2017 3,095 Rosebank Oxford Corner 1958 1977 Rosebank Rosebank Mall (1st store) Marwood, ebook locations 2961–2991 1983Replaced freestanding streetfront store at Oxford Corner. Rosebank Rosebank Mall (2nd store) Marwood, ebook location 3443 2,409 Bedfordview Eastgate Shopping Centre 2017 5,637Hyde ParkHyde Park Mall 2009Randburg - CrestaCresta Shopping Centre PRETORIA and Tshwane M. M. Menlyn Menlyn Park 2017 2,580BrooklynBrooklyn Mall "Boutique" store"WoodhillWoodlands Boulevard Shopping Complex 2009 KWAZULU-NATAL (formerly Natal) DURBAN and eThekwini M. M. Durban Central NW corner West and Field streets (today Joe Slovo & Dr Pixley Kaseme) 1926 19831983 became a Garlicks; as of July 2020, occupied on ground floor by Markham, Bradlows, and "Garlicks Chambers"Google Maps street view, July 2020uMhlangaGateway Theatre of Shopping 2009 2017 3,795Replaced Musgrave CentreLa LuciaLa Lucia MallWestvilleThe Pavillion 2017 2,440PIETERMARITZBURG1984Marwood, ebook location 4371 ff.Lease taken over by John Orr's BOTSWANA GABORONE Gamecity Lifestyle Shopping Mall 2017 Airport Junction Shopping Centre 2017 KENYA NAIROBI Dagoretti The Junction Mall 2005 Marwood, ebook location 3352Originally about 30 employees, later fell to around 15 NAMIBIAWINDHOEK Maerua Mall (open) ---Sold in June 2017 to a 3rd party.Marwood, ebook location 3772 Still operating as of July 2020.Stuttaford's Namibia website, accessed July 6, 2020
External links John Marwood, The History of Stuttafords Department Stores of South Africa 1858 - 2017: Expansion, Takeovers, Makeovers, Collapse "The Story of Stuttaford's" (blog) Bibliography (Book) Stuttaford & Co. Ltd., Gill Fraser (ed.), The Story of Stuttafords, Cape Press, 1957. 55 pp. (E-book) Marlow, John (2016), The History of Stuttafords Department Stores of South Africa 1858 - 2017: Expansion, Takeovers, Makeovers, Collapse, References John Marwood, The History of Stuttafords Department Stores