South Africa’s retail heavyweight Pepkor is making a quiet but significant play beyond its discount roots. The group, best known for mass-market chains like PEP and Ackermans, has launched Osmo, a new athleisure-meets-lifestyle brand that’s aiming squarely at shoppers willing to pay a bit more for style and quality.
The launch comes through Refinery, Pepkor’s specialty fashion division, which operates alongside sister brands Dunns and Code. With over 1,400 stores across Southern Africa under its Speciality division umbrella, Pepkor has the scale to test new concepts without betting the farm. But Osmo represents something different: a deliberate attempt to move upmarket and capture customers the group hasn’t traditionally served.
The brand’s pitch is straightforward: functional, elevated everyday wear “inspired by balance, movement, and everyday energy.” The debut collection launched on October 30 across six Refinery locations in major metros including Ballito, Gateway, and Goldfields Mall, plus online. Critically, Osmo isn’t just hanging on existing racks. Pepkor is creating dedicated shop-in-shop spaces within Refinery stores, signaling that this needs to feel premium and distinct to justify higher price points and, the company hopes, better margins.
It’s a strategy borrowed from global playbooks. Think Zara’s premium capsules that use better fabrics to command higher prices, or H&M’s separate brands like COS and Arket that cater to higher LSM shoppers. Adidas has done similar work with its Originals A-Type line, where classic silhouettes get reworked with luxury materials. The common thread: competing on design and perceived value, not just price.
The next six to twelve months will be telling. Analysts will be watching how quickly Pepkor rolls out additional Osmo locations, whether the brand’s average prices are meaningfully higher than standard Refinery offerings, and most importantly, whether customers actually come back for repeat purchases. The real test isn’t just attracting new shoppers but keeping them engaged while the existing customer base stays loyal.
In a retail landscape where value players everywhere are trying to trade up, Osmo is Pepkor’s answer to a fundamental question: can South Africa’s biggest discounter become something more?
