Susman’s Woolworths a Legacy to Be Proud of

A FADING black and white photo hanging in the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia shows six men and two women next to a sign saying Susman Stores.

The undated picture attests to the retail heritage into which former Woolworths MD David Susman, who died on Monday at the age of 84, was born.

It was a heritage he continued, as the man who turned a general dealer called Woolworths into the niche store it is today.

"When (Susman) came into the business, it was a bazaar. He had this vision of a business ... where quality was paramount, the private label was the marketing brand of the business and it was his drive, his passion," said nephew and former Wooltru MD John Rabb yesterday.

In 1952, Susman joined Woolworths, started in Cape Town by Max Sonnenberg and of which his father Elie started the northern division in the then Transvaal, following his return from central Africa. In 1954, Susman became Woolworths' director.

After three years working for Marks & Spencer (M&S) in the UK, he based his strategy for the South African business on one the UK company had followed.

"The story is that he took something between 30 000 and 35 000 lines out of Woolworths in one year," said Colin Hall, a former Woolworths CEO. "Hairpins, haberdashery, cotton and whatever got whipped out. All that was left was basically clothing.... That is a story of retailing like I've never heard."

Susman was very much an M&S man. His wife, Ann, is the niece of Simon Marks, the son of M&S founder Michael Marks. In 1962 Susman was appointed non-executive director of M&S, a position he held for more than 30 years. In 1981 he was instrumental in the merger of Woolworths and Truworths that resulted in the creation of Wooltru; he served as chairman until retiring in 1993.