Tradition guides J&E Wholesalers' future - Supermarket.co.za

Wholesale storewatch
Health & beauty is J&E’s most successful
trading category.
loyal. They need enough time to spend with
their families,” says Mahomed Joosub.
setting up small spaza shops in order to
become self-sustaining. Recently, the
team adopted a school in Shoshanguve by
setting up container classrooms. It has now
developed into a fully functional school.
They are also involved internationally by
working with Gift of the Givers and recently
donated six containers of food and cooking
oil to Somalia, as well as 60 000 litres of
bottled water to Yemen.
Growing beyond
“Currently, J&E is known for health and
beauty products. Shield is very strong on the
foods side and the partnership will enable
us to grow stronger in this segment as well,”
says Mahomed Joosub.
Unilever SA recently introduced the
concept of key distributors to supply smaller
businesses who do not yet hold accounts
with the company. J&E was awarded the
sole distribution rights for the Tshwane
region and operates this as part of its newly
founded sister company, trading group, Mass
Distributors. This is a new addition to the
business and will be a significant driver of
growth going forward.
The Mass Distributors operation works
through its 3 000m 2 distribution centre (DC)
in Hermanstad in Gauteng, which currently
supplies just under 1 000 outlets. “Over the
next 18 months, we are looking to grow our
DC to enable the supply of roughly 4 000
outlets. There is lots of room for growth
and this a major focus of our business,” says
Adam Joosub.
The partnership with Shield, as well as the
the DC setup will bring major opportunities
for growth in the future and enable a
century of wholesale legacy to live on.
A secure trading environment
The team is proud to say that the store has
minimal security problems. Shrinkage is at
a very low 0.07%, mainly thanks to the fact
that the store is not open to the public as
well as incentivised staff. Every customer
has to register at the entrance or identify
himself with his existing account. A bonus
system was introduced that rewards staff
members according to current shrinkage,
attendance records and the cleanliness of
aisles.
Stock is protected by regular stock count
schedules and the store has never had
a single criminal incident. Armed guards
secure the entrances and every purchase
is checked against the till slip. “Between
the three brothers, we do all the buying
ourselves, which helps to quickly identify
problems as they occur. Not trading with
the public also gives maximum control,”
says Mahomed Joosub.
Involved in the community
The team also emphasises giving back
to the community. Solly Joosub and his
sons are all members of the SA Memon
foundation, of which Adam is the chairman
and Mahomed acts as the treasurer. The
foundation assists needy, ill and elderly
members of the community by distributing
food hampers and providing warmth during
winter. It also assists men and women in
The five tills process roughly 6 000 bulk transactions per month.
J&E is the biggest distributor of washing powder in the Pretoria area.
24 wholesalebusiness Issue 5, 2012