Edgars celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, and leading it and the rest of Edcon's department stores into the next decade is a cosmopolitan, suave Parisian - Hughes Witvoet.
Though born in France, Witvoet is a citizen of the world. He has high-level experience in many areas of retail across the globe. He speaks several languages, including rudimentary Korean. Some of the highlights of his career were at L'Oréal in Mexico and as a consultant for McKinsey & Co in France and the UK.
In Korea he was president of the Continent chain of hypermarkets, part of the Promodes Group, which merged with Carrefour in 1999. He then joined Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Asia Pacific, eventually becoming CEO of the LVMH Fashion Group in Asia.
In 2005 he moved back to Paris from Hong Kong as CEO of AS Watson Europe's luxury division, where he managed a chain of 1 700 perfumeries.
So why would someone who has been at the centre of the global luxury retail industry come to Africa?
When Bain Capital took Edcon private in a R25bn deal in 2007, CEO of Edgars at the time, Jon Spotts, elected not to participate. Group CEO Steve Ross recruited Witvoet late in 2007, when he was working as a private equity adviser.
"I was sceptical at first," he says. "I knew little about Africa and had no preconceived ideas. But I saw a demanding and motivating challenge to be involved in a change exercise. Edcon is a strong company. Edgars is a good brand but it needed to be rejuvenated, recreated and leveraged better."
Witvoet is a man of wide-ranging interests, but what really drives him? "My true passion is challenges, creating things so they are better and different, and moving people with me. There can sometimes be resistance to change."
He says retail is about constantly adapting. "It's about strategy and research but it's also people-intensive and very de centralised. Your vision has to be repeated every day at every counter."
Witvoet says there is enormous opportunity here. "I find the combination of a mature market and an emerging one - with an enormous appetite for new things - a positive mix."
He draws parallels with China, where over 10 years he saw amazing growth in the economy driven by a new middle class. "It's attractive to witness an evolution. Johannesburg can become the New York of Africa. What is happening in Sandton City will make it comparable with Pacific Place in Hong Kong. The food retail industry is on a par with what can be found anywhere else in the world. It is just a matter of ambition."
He differentiates between catwalk and street fashion, where people have adapted trends to their lifestyle, and believes fashion should not be the privilege of the rich. He wants Edgars to provide entry to high-end products that give value for money and are affordable. "I would like to bring a bit more jazz, romance and excitement into an established brand. It's going to be a journey." He is also introducing new concepts for stablemates Red Square and Boardmans.
And what about his personal style?
He likes understated elegance. "The Italians have the best sense of style and my favourites are Hermès, Fendi and Loewe." But he is wearing an Edgars-brand Charter Club shirt. "I always try to wear my own products."
He says in retail one has to have a helicopter view. "You need to be close to the ground, because retail is in the detail, but you also have to keep an eye on the bigger picture. Retailers are a tough breed, but inherently optimistic. There will always be opportunities and solutions tomorrow."
Plays tennis