Cold
Chain
(Incorporating
Food Africa News)
May
/ June 2004
Volume
17 Number 3
Checking
In
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The
number of retail outlets established throughout South Africa over the
last twenty years or so is colossal. Small shopping squares consisting
of no more than a dozen shops to the larger regional shopping centres of
130 000m2
have swiftly developed, and continue to do so at a pace.
As
of late, Krugersdorp has seen near as much activity as any popular
settlement surrounding Johannesburg. Little Falls, the once reserved
area, dominated by hills and open land beside the N12, is pumping with
life.
Major
chain stores and groups have found solace in this once quiet area, and
the lonely corner cafe's, once a dominating presence, have sprouted
retail monsters on their doorsteps.
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The frozen
goods and chilled section
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The
Cascades shopping complex, so named for its positioning on Cascades
Road, is a small centre in the middle of the Little Falls area of
Krugersdorp, and, despite its size, is a perfect example of the flurry
of expansion in the retail business recently. The Cascades square served
largely as a secondary shopping facility when it was built a few years
ago, however, the need was soon recognized for a supermarket that could
offer a full spectrum of goods. As with any new supermarket, large or
small, it has some interesting commercial refrigeration details.
Shoprite
Checkers Group, the well-known South Africa retailer has now joined the
Krugersdorp
centre
with its own store, opening on the 18th of March of this
year. Since the amalgamation of Shoprite and Checkers in 1991, the group
has developed into and throughout the African continent with stores also
in Egypt and soon in India, Madagascar and Mauritius.
WSP
Consulting Engineers SA were approached to lever the project, which
kicked off in November of 2003. WSP have an extensive knowledge of the
retail industry and provide both industrial and commercial professional
consulting engineering services within Southern Africa and
Globally. T
hey have been involved in a number of the large refrigeration
installations, including East Rand Mall, Northgate and the V&A
Waterfront, handling everything from lighting and air-conditioning to
customized refrigeration installations. The group was recently awarded
the silver arrow multi-disciplinary practices in the Construction
Category by Professional Management Review magazine. WSP were contracted
direct to Shoprite.
As
with a number of supermarkets, the refrigeration system chosen for this
............................Continued
on page 9 of this issue
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South African Institute of Refrigeration &
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