Release Date: 2006/10/25
Cape Town – South Africa’s largest music and entertainment retailer, Musica, has launched Musica Megastores which will offer customers over 30 000 CD and DVD titles in its large format stores.
The first four Musica Megastores have been converted from CD Wherehouse, the other specialist music brand in the New Clicks stable.
Colin Robb, managing director of Musica, said the Musica brand enjoys broad market appeal and “strategically it makes sense to focus all our resources on one brand.”
Musica currently has 140 stores nationwide, with an estimated 34% share of the country’s music market.
Robb said Musica Megastores would retain the extensive range of catalogue and import titles of CD Wherehouse while introducing the pricing and value proposition of Musica. “CD Wherehouse has always been a destination store for people obsessed with music and movies, and we definitely plan to retain this attraction, while also offering customers the best features of Musica.
“We believe the repositioning to Musica Megastore will retain the passionate CD Wherehouse customers while also driving increased volumes owing to the high brand awareness of Musica. Musica Megastore customers will benefit from more competitive pricing as a result of the buying muscle of Musica,” saidRobb.
Musica Megastores will be further differentiated through the expertise and advice of staff, while also offering music lovers features such as in-store appearances and signings by artists.
Entertainment-related merchandise including gaming and lifestyle accessories currently offered by Musica will be introduced into the Megastores over time.
The Musica Megastores are located in Rosebank and Sandton in Johannesburg, Gateway in Durban and the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town. The stores range in size from 650m² to 1 600m².
Robb said Musica’s strategy would be to find further locations to open Musica Megastores and also to introduce “the best of CD Wherehouse” into a few large Musica stores. The conversion is expected to be seamless as Musica and CD Wherehouse operate off a common IT platform.
New Clicks acquired the original CD Wherehouse store in Rosebank in 1997 and opened three further stores. Robb said the CD Wherehouse brand would no longer be used.
Ends
Issued by Tier 1 Investor Relations on behalf of the Clicks Group
For further information kindly contact
Graeme Lillie, Tier 1 Investor Relations 021 702 3102 / 082 468 1507