New-look ultra-luxury Checkers in South Africa’s millionaire town with a wine cellar, Starbucks, Lindt store, and a river flowing through it

Checkers has revamped its Mill Street supermarket in Stellenbosch, adding new features such as the Mill Stream running through the store.

Checkers Stellenbosch is located on the corner of Mill and Dorp Street, which is the place where the Mill Stream flowed.

After Dutch Cape Colony Governor Simon van der Stel established Stellenbosch in 1679, early settlers built a gravity-fed water furrow diverted from the Eerste River.

The canal was designed to drive waterwheels for the town’s flour mills, giving Mill Street its name, and to supply fresh water to agricultural plots along Dorp Street.

It stands as one of the oldest engineered water supply channels in South Africa, and Checkers set out to pay homage to this history in its revamped store.

Checkers Stellenbosch stands on the site of the town’s third mill, which was demolished in 1963, while the stream was declared a Provincial Heritage Site in 1973. 

When the commercial precinct was developed into the Checkers complex, heritage regulations required the protection of the historic watercourse running across the site.

During store developments and precinct upgrades, elements of the original furrow system were incorporated into the building’s design layout.

“Today, a section of the Mill Stream can be seen flowing ‘through’ Checkers, preserving a visible link to Stellenbosch’s past,” the retailer said.

This allows shoppers and visitors to view or walk alongside preserved sections of the historical watercourse.

Checkers chief operating officer Willem Hunlun said that as part of the revamp, they wanted to acknowledge the site’s history and its place in Stellenbosch.

“The Mill Stream is an important part of the town’s story, and incorporating it into the design allows customers to experience that heritage,” he said.

Revamped Stellenbosch Checkers

It is unique that the Checkers store incorporates the Mill Stream into its design, but the real value lies in the upgraded store experience.

The store now features a range of departments, including a butchery, a hot-and-cold food deli, a bakery, a fresh produce section, and a wine cellar.

Other features inside the revamped Stellenbosch Checkers include a Starbucks, a coffee bar, a Lindt shop-in-shop, and a Money Market counter.

Since starting the revamp, Checkers Stellenbosch has created 142 new jobs, providing employment opportunities for the local community.

The upgraded Checkers store now employs 272 people, making it one of the largest retail employers in the town known for its wealthy residents.

The store is managed by Shaun Adams, who joined the business in 2009 through the Retail Readiness Programme.

He steadily progressed through the ranks and most recently held the position of Branch Manager at Checkers Franschhoek before taking up his current role in 2023.

The redevelopment project also included an upgraded LiquorShop, Medirite Plus pharmacy, and a Petshop Science store.

Shoprite Checkers CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht, attended the store’s reopening, paying respects to those who made it a success.

Checkers’ growth in South Africa

The Checkers Stellenbosch revamp forms part of the company’s expansion and store modernisation in South Africa.

This includes Checkers’ multi-year programme to refurbish existing stores and construct new ones under the FreshX concept.

Checkers opened 30 new FreshX supermarkets in the 2026 financial year, bringing the national total to 194 stores.

At year-end, 51% of all Checkers stores trade as FreshX stores, either through full-store refurbishments or new builds.

Refurbished FreshX layouts prioritise premium fresh food and convenience, featuring specialist service departments.

These specialist departments include bakeries, meat markets, wine cellars, quality coffee bars, and brand partnerships with Starbucks, Kauai, Krispy Kreme, and Lindt.

Checkers Hypers are also being upgraded to the FreshX format with redesigned layouts and specialised destination departments.

These include dedicated wine sections, outdoor sections, Little Me baby areas, pet shops, TechX stores, pharmacies, and ToolX shops.

The retailer invested R6.8 billion in capital expenditure in the 2026 financial year. A large part was used to expand and upgrade its South African supermarket network.

In South Africa, Checkers opened 30 new Checkers supermarkets and 2 Checkers Hyper stores during the 2026 financial year.

This brought Checkers’ South African footprint to 382 supermarket stores, comprising 342 Checkers supermarkets and 40 larger-format Checkers Hypers.

The Checkers Stellenbosch project was also typical of the company’s strategy to leverage its brand and platform to expand standalone adjacent chains.

These chains include Petshop Science, Uniq Clothing by Checkers, Checkers Outdoor, and Checkers Little Me.

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Checkers Stellenbosch photos

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