Mr Price taking over Europe with 544 new stores

Mr Price said its new acquisition, NKD Group, is on track to meet its target of 2,700 stores in 2030, with the European retailer having opened a net 2 stores over the past 13 weeks.

The acquisition of NKD marked Mr Price’s first venture into the European market, and the retailer has big expansion plans for the business. To reach its target, the retailer will need to open 544 new stores over the next four years.

On Thursday, 23 July, Mr Price revealed the progress on these plans in a voluntary trading update for the 13 weeks ended 27 June 2026.

The group said its retail sales increased by 45.3% to R13.1 billion, when including NKD’s contribution, and by 3.2% to R9.3 billion excluding NKD.

The retailer explained that it achieved its objective of growing sales ahead of the market, without sacrificing its gross margin. Mr Price’s African gross margin expanded by 40 basis points.

In Africa, Mr Price recorded flat comparable store sales, with South African retail sales up 3.5% to R8.6 billion.

Its total store sales in Africa increased 3.1% while online sales were up 4.7%, contributing 2.4% of total retail sales.

Mr Price’s store footprint in Africa increased by a net 32 stores, bringing its footprint to 3,214.

Sales growth was largely driven by Mr Price’s Apparel and Telecoms segments, which grew retail sales by 3.4% and 11.2%, respectively. Homeware lagged with 0.7% growth.

Mr Price also provided an update on NKD’s performance, following the company’s acquisition in March 2026.

This acquisition marked Mr Price’s first foray into the European market, and faced some investor scrutiny when it was first announced.

Shareholders were largely concerned about the cost of the acquisition, R10.5 billion, and the viability of a European expansion.

However, Mr Price stuck to its guns and now has big plans to grow NKD’s presence across Europe.

NKD’s performance

In its voluntary update, Mr Price revealed that NKD outperformed both the total apparel market and the value segment in Germany.

This German value segment accounts for 60% of NKD’s sales. The retailer is based in Germany but also operates in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

Mr Price said it closed 21 NKD stores over the 13-week period, as part of its space optimisation programme. Another 23 were opened, increasing NKD’s footprint to 2,156 stores.

“The business exited the quarter in a clean stock position, and management is comfortable with its closing inventory,” the company said.

At an investor presentation in March 2026, Mr Price shared its ambitious growth plans for NKD in the years ahead.

By 2030, it wants to grow NKD’s net sales to €1 billion (R18.73 billion), up from €712 million (R13.34 billion) in 2024. For the 13 week-period, NKD’s retail sales totalled R3.8 billion.

It wants to expand NKD’s gross margin to between 62% and 64%, up from 61.6% in 2024, while growing the retailer’s EBIT at a compound annual growth rate of between 15% and 20%.

Crucially, Mr Price also wants to expand NKD’s footprint to 2,700 stores, which implies a compound annual growth rate of 100 per annum from 2024 to 2030.

Given that NKD now has 2,156 stores, this means Mr Price will aim to open 544 stores in Europe over the next four years.

“Management is confident of achieving its annual store growth targets,” Mr Price said in its voluntary update. 

“NKD management is focused on operational excellence and delivery of strategic objectives. The process of reducing NKD’s cost of debt is well advanced.”