Massmart plans 23 new stores

Massmart CEO Grant Pattison. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi. Massmart Holdings, the South African retailer majority owned by Wal-Mart , plans to open 23 new stores in the next eight months, its chief executive said in a statement. “In the next eight months alone, we will be opening 23 new stores,” Grant Pattison said in a statement on Saturday. Wal-Mart in June finalised its $2.4 billion purchase of 51 percent of Massmart. South Africa's government has since said it would push Wal-Mart to rejig the conditions of the deal, citing concern that Wal-Mart's expansion could squeeze local suppliers and lead to