14 August 2020
A change in ownership of the Ballito SPAR at the Balvista Centre in the old Ballito village was announced today. Current owners, Paul and Bruce Rencken, have sold the store to business partners, Kevin Hedderwick and Ed von Gericke. BALLITO SPAR will close its doors on Sunday, 23 August 2020 to allow an extensive re-development to commence immediately, after which it will reopen as a KWIKSPAR.
The Renckens acquired BALLITO SPAR from the Southwood and Forsyth families in 1996, going on to grow the store into one of the most successful stores in The SPAR Group at the time. “Our journey in Ballito started some 24 years ago, when the Balvista Centre and surrounding businesses made up Ballito’s CBD,” said the Rencken brothers. “We enjoyed many years of great trading as Ballito grew from a ‘beach holiday spot’, into a small town, into a big town. And it’s still growing! So it is with heavy hearts that we sell a store which has been such a big part of our lives in Ballito and integral to our success.”
Their sadness is, however, tempered by the knowledge of the vision which the new owners have for BALLITO KWIKSPAR and which Gerard de Billot, the landlord and owner of Balvista Centre and a number of the surrounding buildings, has for the beach commercial node. Collectively, they plan to re-open the new BALLITO KWIKSPAR, a TOPS liquor store and the revamped Balvista Centre in time for the 2020 festive season.
Bruce Rencken is convinced that the business experience and commitment of the new owners, combined with de Billot’s vision for Balvista Centre, will create a beach commercial node which is an asset to Ballito and which will ensure the success of the new BALLITO KWIKSPAR and TOPS. “My business relationship with Kevin started over 15 years ago and this has evolved into a friendship of mutual trust and respect”, he said. “The pedigree and experience of the new owners is unquestioned, Kevin being the former CEO of South Africa’s leading food services business who, as part of his semi-retirement invests in venture capital projects alongside young, ambitious entrepreneurs like Ed, who has an impeccable track record himself in the food and beverage space.”
Paul and Bruce Rencken will continue to focus on the evolution of the Lifestyle Centre and believe that Lifestyle SUPERSPAR and BALLITO KWIKSPAR, with their associated TOPS stores, will work well together to build the SPAR brand and serve their Ballito customers well in the future. “We wish Kevin and Ed all the success and will give them all our support,” they stated. “We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our customers over the years, who have been part of our journey and without whom we would not have been able to grow our business to where it is today.”