Truworths Deals, Specials & Catalogues

Throughout its 100-year history, Truworths has launched a number of successful fashion brands.

Truworths is a well-known South African retailer of apparel, footwear and related accessories. The company’s roots are in Cape Town, where the first store opened in 1917. At the time, the store was called The Alliance Trading Company. It took a while for the company to open its next store, and by the time it launched in 1935, the name had been changed to Truworths Fashion House. The next decade saw the start of local manufacturing. After 25 years of operation, the company introduced credit and made its first R1-million turnover from 50 stores. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Truworths expanded at a fast pace, opening up to 280 stores. In 1981, shareholders approved a merger between Woolworths and Truworths to form Wooltru. This turned out to be a great move for both businesses. During this period, Truworths introduced the Daniel Hechter brand and created the Inwear and Fine Jewellery departments within their stores. The company also extended its range to sell men’s clothing and Truworths Man was born. Having proven successful at launching its own brands, Truworths continued to roll out more throughout the 1990s, including LTD and Elements. By 1997, Wooltru unbundled and Truworths relisted on the JSE as Truworths International. In the early 2000s, Truworths acquired YDE and the Uzzi’s chain of stores. Truworths has opened 49 stores outside South Africa. Within the country, there are over 300 stores.

Truworths’ success is attributed to its broad product range of clothing, accessories and cosmetics for every age. Their brands are segmented to suit a wide variety of tastes and occasions, from the casual comfort of LTD to the trendy fashions of Inwear and the eccentric Ginger Mary. The company targets the middle market, offering well-made local clothing at affordable prices. The retailer has been innovative in the way that its multiple brands are showcased within Truworths outlets with the emporium concept stores being introduced in 2004. Some of the brands have become successful enough to be spun off into stand-alone stores. As of the 2016 financial year, Truworths’ turnover was R9.2-billion.

In 2011, Truworths won the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year at the World Retail Awards