Eastlea SPAR is on the brink of collapse after it emerged the retail concern has over $1 million exposure to troubled Interfin bank.
The supermarket is believed to be owned by businessman Farai Rwodzi and his wife Lorah. It is allegedly facing serious financial constraints after it sourced a loan from Interfin, which is currently under curatorship. Rwodzi is the Interfin chairman.
According to impeccable sources, repayments of the loan by Eastlea SPAR had been erratic, fueling market speculation the supermarket was going under, despite increasing dominance of the SPAR brand in the country.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe this week placed Interfin under curatorship after it emerged the bank had over $105 489 614 in loans and advances against $3 567 in its RTGS account, $137 422 in vault cash and $98 483 in its nostro account.
When the NewsDay news crew visited the supermarket on Wednesday, it was closed and there was a notice that stock take was underway. When reached for comment on the developments, Rwodzi denied having any shareholding in the supermarket.
He, however, confirmed the shop had temporarily closed for refurbishment.
Rwodzi also discounted market speculation of the imminent closure of the supermarket, saying operations would resume over the weekend.
“There is some refurbishment work. We are currently working on our refrigeration systems for the supermarket,” Rwodzi said.
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“We can’t operate without refrigeration. We are actually putting up new refrigeration systems and they should be up and running by weekend.”
When asked to clarify the ownership structure of Eastlea SPAR, Rwodzi said the supermarket belonged to businessman Godfrey Gomwe.
“I don’t hold any shares in Eastlea SPAR. I’m only helping a friend, but the supermarket belongs to Godfrey Gomwe,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Gomwe were unsuccessful.
In Zimbabwe, the SPAR franchise has 100 retail outlets using the SPAR, SPAR Express and SaveMor formats.
The group sees growth underpinned by upgrades of SPAR stores and a roll out of TOPS bottle store formats and new SPAR outlets.
The Securities Commission of Zimbabwe a fortnight ago suspended Interfin Securities following irregular transactions and settlement disputes with Remo Investments involving shares at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
