that it alone contributes around R18.5 billion towards SA's fiscus in excise duties, PAYE, VAT, and income tax.
Many of these businesses live in closed ecosystems - they're either run by a corporate head office or, in the case of some supermarket liquor outlets, paired only with an existing supermarket franchise. This, together with logistical tasks like obtaining licenses, forming partner agreements, and organising cash collections, makes opening a new liquor store in a prime location difficult, but not impossible.
Liquor City opened its first store in South Africa in 1994 and became its largest independent liquor group. It only began franchising the brand in 2007, and since then, many stores under its umbrella are now franchisee owned and run.