Listen to the podcast to get insights into the retail sector from the first few weeks of trading in 2025.

In clothing, it's quite clear that Pepkor and Mr Price had stronger numbers than The Foschini Group and certainly Truworths, yet the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater in that sector.

Woolworths is a hybrid model and this is reflected in the performance, with the food business looking far stronger than the rest of the group.

In grocery, Boxer has been the most defensive stock thus far in 2025 and had a solid festive season. Shoprite put in a predictably strong performance as well vs. peers. There are signs of life at Pick n Pay, but it remains well below Shoprite. Spar hasn't delivered a trading update yet, so the focus there is on cleaning house and getting out of broken investments (like Poland).

We save the best for last: Lewis. The latest numbers are highly impressive and when you consider the discretionary nature of the business, the share price resilience in 2025 has been especially promising.

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