Exciting Details on the New Walmart Store Location Opening in South Africa

US retail giant Walmart has confirmed plans to open its next South African store in Boksburg on the East Rand, with the launch expected in the first quarter of 2026. The announcement was made by Walmart’s local subsidiary, Massmart, in recent feedback provided to MyBroadband regarding its strategic plans for the year ahead.

This will mark Walmart’s third physical store in South Africa, following the successful launch of its first two outlets at Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort and Fourways Mall in Johannesburg in November 2025. While Massmart has not disclosed the exact address of the new Boksburg store, industry observers believe it is likely to occupy the former Game store space at East Point Shopping Centre, adjacent to East Rand Mall. The Game store at this location has been closed since July 2025.

Previously, staff members at the closed Game outlet indicated on the Boksburg Community Group on Facebook that the space would be taken over by Makro. However, that plan did not materialise, strengthening speculation that Walmart will repurpose the site for its next store.

Massmart indicated that more details regarding Walmart’s broader strategy in South Africa will be shared in the second quarter of 2026. The group also confirmed that, unlike its Game brand, it does not intend to expand Walmart stores into other African countries in the medium term.

“The intention is to increase our provincial representation, but we would prefer not to signal our specific intent to competitors at this time,” Massmart said.

The retailer acknowledged that maintaining confidentiality around its expansion plans has been one of its key challenges, particularly while engaging with landlords, suppliers and contractors. Despite this, Walmart expressed appreciation for the support received during its rollout.

“We are very grateful for the excellent support we have received from our business partners,” the company said. “Our contractors showed unbelievable commitment, working long hours and overcoming challenges like needing to find innovative ways to introduce new concepts within space constraints.”

Walmart has also expressed satisfaction with the strong and sustained consumer interest shown in its South African stores since launch. The retailer highlighted its “Every Day Low Price” philosophy as central to building customer trust.

“Our Every Day Low Price philosophy is core to us building trust with customers and to this end, we are pleased with the results of our regular shop-outs and price comparisons to key competitors,” Walmart said. “We have been able to maintain a consistent price gap on items that we have been tracking since launch.”

In terms of product offering, Massmart confirmed that Walmart will continue to expand and refresh its assortment across local, international and private label ranges. Popular products among South African shoppers currently include Pop-Tarts, Sour Patch candy, Reese’s chocolate bars and various flavours of Dr Pepper.

During the recent back-to-school period, the retailer offered stationery, school bags, water bottles, lunchboxes and convenient lunch options, and plans to maintain a strong focus on affordable seasonal ranges throughout the year.

To compete in the fast-growing on-demand grocery and retail delivery market, Walmart has also introduced a 60-minute express delivery service for customers living within a 5km radius of its stores. The service is available through the Walmart Africa mobile app.

At this stage, the retailer has no plans to introduce a desktop website for online shopping, nor to expand the 5km delivery radius in the immediate future. However, Massmart said it would continue to review its delivery strategy to best serve customers.

The opening of the Boksburg store is expected to further strengthen Walmart’s footprint in South Africa and reinforce its competitive positioning in the country’s evolving retail landscape.