Renier van Rooyen and Pep Stores Limited: The Genesis of a South African Entrepreneur and Retail Empire

Abstract

The focus of the article is the genesis of Renier van Rooyen as entrepreneur during the founding years of Pep Stores Limited. Starting in the early 1950s, it traces Van Rooyen's development as entrepreneur from a clerk in a magistrate's office to co-ownership of the Bargain Shop (a small general dealership in Upington); the establishment of his first company, Bargain Stores (Pty) Ltd; and the founding of Pep Stores as a retail clothing company in 1965. The article attempts to situate these developments within the broader local, regional and national context of the time and tries to identify the circumstances that influenced Van Rooyen's early entrepreneurial development and the success of his business ventures. The Van Rooyen case suggests a wide range of circumstances – from childhood poverty, personal and family networks and the local and wider business community – to the socio-economic and political context. These are however secondary to the agency of the prime mover, Van Rooyen, who commands centre stage in his early entrepreneurial development and the eventual success of his business.