December 2015 – Issue 36

Checkers Store Converts to OK Foods

OK Foods, Franchise Division of Shoprite Checkers, recently converted and revamped the existing Checkers Oakdale (Bellville) to an OK Foods store. This is a new initiative of the group to identify further stores which can be converted in this manner and to blow new life and zest into these, for the ultimate benefit of the customers out there. This strategy means the implementation of the suite of Arch products, preferred retail management solution of OK Foods, into the respective stores.

OK Foods project team worked tirelessly on the revamp of the store, in close cooperation with our Arch team to ensure a smooth opening for expectant customers in the area. An opening of major impact it was, with customers immediately giving praise for the product range offered, backed by friendly competent service.

Arch Retail, Arch Enterprise, Arch Loyalty and Arch Value Adds (pre-paid airtime & EFT) are operational in the business, with our in-store solution running on All-in-One TowerPOS Touch Screen Check-outs.

Our congratulations and best wishes to Louis and Anneke Kritzinger, proud owners of the store, who bring retail experience to the table, since they also own an OK Minimark in Somerset

Original President Hyper Legend Re-born

It is in Fochville, mining town on the West Rand where it all started for President Hyper, legendary retail hyper group, way back in 1964. George Synodinos, father of the business, opened his first modest cafe, which grew into President Hyper Fochville in the early 1990’s. This remarkable pioneer is today, at the age of 85 still active in the business and an inspiration for all store workers and Basil and Harriet, his son and daughter-in-law, who are also involved in the business.

The “old” President Hyper in town was recently re-launched in the same centre – the much bigger store (approximately 7,000sqm trading space) was made possible through acquiring and demolishing a number of adjacent houses. The store offers the full range of President Hyper products in the usual wide variety of departments. The store has 34 check-out points, fitted with TowerPOS All-in-One Touch Screen machines for the convenience of the customers.

Arch Retail (in-store), Arch Enterprise (central HO module), Arch Financial (financial integration into Pastel Evolution) and Arch Value Adds (pre-paid airtime & EFT) are applied to optimise operational efficiency. Preparation work is under-way to also install Arch Themis, our new integrated Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) in the store.

President Hyper has another 2 stores with Arch, namely President Hyper Krugerdorp and President Hyper Vanderbijlpark, totalling 270 Arch points. We are privileged and proud to be part of the President Hyper family and wish George, Basil and Harriet all the best with their re-born store.

Another Rhino is Born

Rhino Cash & Carry, a Division of Cambridge Food and long-standing client of Arch recently opened a new store in the Eastern Cape town of Flagstaff. True to Rhino tradition, the store is modern, well laid-out and caters for the true needs of their market with a relevant product range, priced competitively. The usual “feeding frenzy” was experienced on opening day. The KZN Arch team worked together with the Rhino project team to ensure a smooth opening.

Arch Retail and Arch Enterprise are running in the store to ensure an optimal retail management solution. A Rhino Liquors store is also opening shortly to complement the Cash & Carry. There are 29 POS points in the Cash & Carry and 8 in the Liquor Store.

It is the first store in the group where the TowerPOS All-in-One Touch-screen machine is utilised as the till of choice. The addition of these 2 stores bring the total number of Cash & Carry stores to 22 and the Liquor stores to 18.

Arch Into the DRC

In a recent development, Arch tied the knot with AES Africa, a local business partner in the DRC. AES will be selling Arch software, implementing the solution and supporting it in the DRC. The first group signed is Kin-Mart, a group of integrated supermarket/restaurant operations.

Kin-Mart Kinshasa store went live with Arch on 4 POS and 2 BO machines. The successful implementation was made possible through a multi-disciplinary Arch/AES team. We expect this to be the first of many more stores to be “Arched” in the DRC. A hearty word of welcome to Mr Imad Ghozayel, owner of the Kin-Mart Group, as the latest addition to our Arch family!

The traditional Arch market outside South Africa has been primarily Botswana and Namibia, where we have a strong footprint. The establishment of Arch as a brand into the rest of Africa is part of the Arch growth strategy and this latest development in the DRC, forms part of it.

At present we have a number of Arch stores already in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Seychelles and Nigeria. The growth of a more formal retail sector in Africa, offers a number of opportunities.

Arch Grows Its Footprint in Butchery Sector

Glenaire Meat Market recently opened its doors in Durban Central to expectant customers. This modern, well laid-out store, targets mostly passers-by trade and offers a wide range of high quality meat produce. The store produces most of their products in a state of the art basement production unit.

The Glenaire Head Office is in Johannesburg and this store is the first of a number planned for the future. Arch Retail is running on 12 TowerPOS All-in-One Touch Screen check-out machines. The TowerPOS machine was the solution of choice due to its general appeal, simplicity of cashier operation and optimal space utilisation.

Arch is already operational in a number of Butchery Groups, notably Excellent Meat, Atlantic Meat, Uitkyk Vleismark, Meat2Oceans, A1 Fisheries and Rainbow Chickens. Let’s further not forget butcheries, as service departments, form an important part of a number of supermarket chains, run on Arch: OK Foods Group, Cambridge Food, Oxford Food, Food Lovers Market, President Hyper, etc.

Arch is well-suited to Butchery operations and offers the following butchery specific functionality: Bulk breaking to accurately calculate yields, live pre-production management, full integration of scales in the store, ingredients description on labels and sell-by-date and expiry control at POS.