Shoprite Checkers selling a big shopping centre in KwaZulu-Natal

Shoprite Checkers is selling the Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, to Imperial Red Properties.

The Brookside Mall opened a decade ago and featured 19,300 square meters of retail space with numerous top retail brands.

However, it was one of the shopping centres in Pietermaritzburg which were looted and burned down during the July 2021 civil unrest.

In the immediate aftermath of the social unrest, the Shoprite Group, which owns the Brookside Mall, started to work to restore operations.

Soon after the riots, construction started rebuilding the Brookside Mall and restoring the shopping centre to its former glory.

In September 2022, the new and improved Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg re-opened its doors.

The restored Brookside Mall’s anchor tenant was the Checkers Hyper FreshX concept store, the first in KwaZulu-Natal.

Shoprite Checkers said 45 new jobs had been created because of the upgrades to the Checkers Hyper, bringing the store’s staff complement to 164 employees.

Today, Brookside Mall is a popular shopping centre in Pietermaritzburg, with over 700 parking spaces and 20 stores.

Despite its popularity, Shoprite Checkers decided to sell Brookside Mall as part of its strategy to dispose of its shopping centre inventory.

In September 2024, Shoprite Checkers sold the award-winning Drakenstein Centre in Paarl, Western Cape, to FPG Holdings.

The Drakenstein Centre is a 9,000-square-meter shopping mall owned and developed by the Shoprite Group.

In November 2024, Shoprite told Sandown Retail Crossing to FPG Holdings, which has a national property portfolio.

Sandown Retail Crossing is located on the corner of Wood Drive and Sandown Road in Parklands, Cape Town.

The shopping centre opened in 2012 and has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 26,800 m² with 42 stores.

In January 2025, the Competition Commission approved the transaction whereby Imperial Red will buy the Brookside Mall from Shoprite Checkers.

Imperial Red Properties already owns two shopping centres in Pietermaritzburg, Woodburn Square and Arbour Arch.

The company focuses on building and managing retail properties, so adding Brookside Mall fits well with its plans to grow in the area.

The Competition Commission said it was unlikely that the proposed transaction would substantially prevent or lessen competition in any market.

To help the local community, Imperial Red has agreed to hire companies owned by historically disadvantaged people (HDPs) for property maintenance.

Brookside Mall