Mr Price is part of the Mr Price Group, together with Mr Price Home, Mr Price Sport and Sheet Street. It was founded by Stewart Cohen and Laurie Chiappini, who both had the vision of selling quality fashion at low and affordable prices. The first store was a Mr Price Factory shop, which opened in Klerksdorp in 1985. As with many businesses, there were financial challenges. However, a big turning point came in when Alastair McArthur, the managing director of the Mr Price group (now CEO) made the decision to shift the branding towards casual clothing (such as denim jeans and t-shirts). They used the slogan ‘Mr Price – Factory Fresh, Nothing Added’ and promoted their stores as having the latest fashion, but at affordable prices. Their famous red cap logo, symbolic for youthfulness and fun, was incorporated into the brand in 1991. The business expanded and in 1995, they were able to open 18 stores in a single day, bringing the total to 237. Sheet Street became part of the Mr price Group in 1996, and Mr Price Home and Mr Price Sport soon followed in 1998 and 2006, respectively. Although their main focus was still casualwear, they started to include office workwear in their stores from 2005 onwards. Today, they have more than 400 stores all over South Africa, in cities such as Berea, Pretoria, Claremont, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Brakpan.
The Mr Price Foundation aims to give back to the community by strengthening education in two ways. Mr Price Foundation Schools focuses on cultivating holistic education at a school level, while Mr Price Foundation Jumpstart looks to develop skills in young people so that they are ready for the job market.
Mr Price falls under the Clothing, Footwear, Sport category along with other stores such as Ackermans, Cape Union Mart, Foschini, Jet, Markham, MRP Sport, Spitz, Sportscene, Sportsmans Warehouse and Superbalist. Their trading hours will depend on the shopping centre in which they are situated, but most stores are open from 9h00 to 19h00 from Monday to Saturday and 9h00 to 17h00 on Sundays.
For more information, visit their website mrp.com.