Speaking to Business Day TV, Marx said that several retailers in South Africa offer good value. This includes Truworths, Pepkor and Shoprite—but Marx is putting her money behind Mr Price.
Marx thinks the group is a clear winner in the discretionary retail space. She also noted that a Shein and Temu fatigue is kicking in across South Africa, which Mr Price can benefit from.
Shein and Temu offer quick fashion imports at often too-good-to-be-true price points. However, consumers are often left disappointed at the quality of items received—if they receive them at all.
While this has served markets looking for cheaper items, recent import changes have severely undercut this, meaning consumers are now starting to pay higher prices for the same questionable result.
Following the recent release a disappointing trading statement, Marx believes there is a good opportunity to buy Mr Price, which operates in a similar low-cost fast-fashion segment.
The retailer’s latest trading statement for the first quarter from 30 March 2025 to 28 June 2025 showed that the group’s retail sales increased by 6.3% to R9 billion, with 10 basis points of market share growth.
April (11.3%) and May (11.9%) both saw strong sales growth over the period, with the group benefiting from the timing shift of the Easter holidays into April.
May benefited from a timely winter season against a weak base of negative sales growth as many cut back spending ahead of the 2024 national election.
However, in June 2025, the group saw its retail sales decline by 5.1% against a firm base of +12.7%.
Mt Price said that the group’s strong performance in June 2024 was mainly due to the late onset of winter, which created pent-up demand in the first two weeks of the month.
It expected softer sales in the month, but the impact of the shift in school holidays from the last two weeks in July was greater than expected.
Higher markdown activity was required from Mr Price, a trend observed by most in the industry.
Despite the challenging month, Marx is optimistic about the group’s performance.
“One bad month does not a trend make. They had a very poor June, but they expect July (+12.9%) to be a lot stronger,” said Marx.
“I think momentum has returned from a retail sales perspective and Mr Price is also gaining market share.”
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