Retail

New ultra-luxury Checkers store taking on Woolworths and Pick n Pay

Daily Investor • 1 August 2026

The Shoprite Group has opened a new Checkers Hyper at Irene Village Mall in Centurion, taking on established Woolworths and Pick n Pay stores.

This new Checkers Hyper has 5,369 square meters of floor space, promising a world-class experience to clients.

It offers a wide selection of fresh food, groceries, general merchandise and speciality offerings, supported by a range of in-store services.

The hypermarket has a dedicated meat market, a hot-and-cold food deli, a bakery, and a fresh fruit and vegetables section.

Customers can also enjoy speciality food offerings from well-known brands, including Sushi, Krispy Kreme, Kauai, and Tandoori Chicken.

The new Checkers Hyper also offers a coffee shop, milkshake bar, hamburger bar, smoothie bar and chocolate fountain.

Additional in-store services and features include a refrigerated flower cart and a money market counter.

“Customers want more choice, fresh food and convenience, and that’s what we’ve delivered at Checkers Hyper Irene Village,” said Checkers COO Willem Hunlun.

“This store showcases the best of what Checkers has to offer, bringing together quality, innovation and specialist offerings in one destination.”

Shoprite Group has also launched UNIQ Clothing by Checkers and Petshop Science at Irene Village Mall as part of the new Checkers Hyper.

These two stores complement the hypermarket by offering clothing and pet products in dedicated retail settings.

Together, the new stores in Irene created 115 employment opportunities in the area, including 102 positions at Checkers Hyper.

What is interesting about the new Checkers Hyper is that it will compete head-on against established Woolworths and Pick n Pay stores in Irene Village Mall.

Shoprite is confident that its superior range at the new Checkers Hyper will be enough to lure customers away from its competitors.

Aggressive rollout targets for Checkers

The new Checkers Hyper Irene Village forms part of the Shoprite Group’s aggressive expansion strategy, which saw it surpass its store rollout target.

Shoprite’s 2025 Annual Integrated Report provided details about its rollout strategy for the Checkers brand.

This rollout included core supermarket formats, fresh store revamps, digital e-commerce expansion, and adjacent specialist retail chains.

The Checkers supermarket chain reached 350 stores in South Africa, comprising 310 Checkers supermarkets and 40 Checkers Hypers.

During the 2025 financial year, Shoprite opened 29 new Checkers supermarkets and 3 Checkers Hypermarkets.

On-demand delivery service Checkers Sixty60 expanded to 694 locations across South Africa, a net addition of 155 locations in the 2025 financial year.

Shoprite said that it had identified significant scope for further expansion of the Checkers store footprint.

It added that it continued to leverage the Checkers store network and platform infrastructure to roll out adjacent retail brands.

These adjacent retail brands include Petshop Science, UNIQ clothing by Checkers, Checkers Outdoor, and Checkers Little Me.

At Checkers Hyper Irene Village, Shoprite used the additional space to add Petshop Science and UNIQ clothing from Checkers.

This makes sense given the demographic it serves at Irene Village Mall, with people spending thousands on their pets.