EDCON - THE BIGGEST ******* RETAILER IN SA

Edgars have introduces EAD tissue oils and related products. It is a great product, but what I need to understand is the pricing of the stock. If I buy it from Kit Kat I pay about R30 for a 100ml tissue oil, at Spar I'll pay about R32 and at Pick and Pay I will pay R36, BUT at Edgars I have to R49. So if we work this out and assume that Kit Kat (the cheapest) has a 33% markup, their cost for the unit will be R22.50, that will give Spar a markup of 42% and Pick and Pay 60% all which is in line with general retail practice. EDGARS ON THE OTHER HAND HAS A 118% MARKUP, TOTALLY OUT OF LINE AND MORE THAN DOUBLE THE COST. I understand that Edcon is in trouble, but this is management's own doing, why should we as customers have to pay to bail you out. If this is what you markup something like this, what does the rest of your markups look like. I'm sure that there are items in stores that are over 200% marked up. Furthermore, if a customer purchase this on their Edgars "Thank You" card, which is charged interest at MAX allowed by law, this item will be about 30% more expensive (sounds more like a "F%*# You" card to me), as you only get 1(one)% of your purchase back, and this you have to spend in Edgars again! Edcon are ripping their customers off, we call this "****************" and then wonder why they are constantly looking for more bailouts. The last 2 times I was in the Carnival Mall store (just walked through as I can't afford your markup), if I counted 10 customers in the store it would have been a lot. There was however more than enough staff. I estimate the ratio at 2:1 staff to customers, YET NONE OF THE STAFF WERE ATTENDING TO THESE CUSTOMERS. I don't know what you are paying your staff for, the store do not need to be tidied as there are no customers making a mess, and they are obviously not assisting staff. (I did one day found 3 staff members speaking to a promoter, and not about stoc****). Edgars were known for Service and Quality back in the day, but now you are famous for Bad Service and ****************. If you want to mark stock up by 100% should you not at least have someone that will be there to help me, and should your quality not be more than double that of other retailers? Yet this is not the case, you can't find a staff member to help you, and if you are one of the lucky ones to find one, you will get more information speaking to a brick, as they are clueless about the product and the advantages/disadvantages of the product and the material that was used to make it, then the quality is so bad that it borderline ****. I purchased 3 pairs of socks from Edgars and it lasted me about 4 months before all the socks had holes in it, yet I purchased socks from the Chinese shop and only now after more than a year has the one pair gotten a hole in it, and the Chinese shop was 60% cheaper. Your whole brand strategy was a waste of time and money. You brought in brands like River Island, a common British brand and sold it to us as an exclusive brand. Half of the brands that were brought it was never heard off, marked up by what I can only assume more than 100% and then ate into you profit as it did not sell and had to be marked down, this after depreciating on your shelves for 6 months. If your buyers knew the SA market, they would not have even gone that route, but to late now. The only reason why Edcon is in the situation they are in is because of: * Bad Management * Poor Decisions * Constant Restructures * Out of Line Pricing * Staff not Disciplined * Poor Management Appointments * Etc The list goes on....... EDCON, THE BIGGEST ******* RETAILER IN SA