Troubled Foschini Group seeks shelter within childrenswear

South African clothing retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) keeps looking for new areas of growth that help them offset a series of backslashes. Now, the fashion group is planning two chains of stores aimed at children.

As announced by Chief Executive Doug Murray in a conference with reporters on Wednesday, the South African retailer will open its first Soda Bloc store with a focus on fashion conscious 9 to 16 year-olds in Cape Town on Thursday, and wants to roll out another 10 before Christmas.

After a couple of tough years of ever-growing competition from foreign fast fashion brands such as Zara or H&M, the Foschini Group has tried to lower its reliance on women's fashion.

The group has instead boosted its sports and furniture offering and in January bought British fashion group Phase Eight, recalls Reuters.

Now, there is still room for growth in childrenswear in South Africa, with Murray describing Soda Bloc as a "first step".

TFG is also considering standalone Foschini kids' stores, aimed at a pre-teen market it is missing out on, said Murray.

In this vein, the fashion group might make another announcement about an acquisition or a partnership in this market segment in the next six weeks, as hinted Chief Financial Officer Anthony Thunström.

On the trading floor, TFG's share price has risen about 45 percent over the past eighteen months, but has slumped more than 20 percent since the end of May when the group's earnings missed estimates, according to figures gathered by Reuters.