Business news: All Dion Wired stores close doors for the last time
- Massmart has announced that 23 Dion Wired stores will cease trading as of Thursday, 19 March
- The Walmart-owned group is still contemplating whether it will close 11 non-performing Masscash stores as well
- This comes after a previous announcement that the group had entered into a consultation process concerning staff
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed!
Dion Wired stores around South Africa will be open for the last time on Thursday after a decision to close down the retailer.
Walmart-owned Massmart issued a notice to shareholders that 23 stores would stop trading and that it was still considering what to do about 11 non-performing Masscash outlets.
Fin24 reports that this follows an announcement issued in January that the brand had entered into an S189 consultation process:
"Since 13 January 2020, management have consulted extensively with the affected employees; organised labour and other relevant stakeholders under the guidance of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and all options/alternatives in respect of the potential closure of the affected stores have been exhausted. The board has thus taken a decision to close the non-performing stores."
READ ALSO: Explainer: Massmart announces 1 500 retrenchments as stores close
The group is in negotiations with unions to limit the number of jobs lost, contemplating deploying workers to posts within the group but only 'where practical and reasonable'.
Briefly.co.za gathered that Dion Friedland, Rave stores founder at age 25, had founded the chain in 1970. In 1993, the Dion department stores were procured by the Massmart group.
In 2011, Walmart had taken over as part of a strategy to expand operations in Africa. However, last year profits plunged by R1.73 billion, prompting the group to rethink its current portfolio.
With the country already facing high rates of unemployment and crippling economic growth, this decision has certainly come as a blow to the country.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
