Grocery retail at scale is an attractive business. The combination of bargaining power with suppliers and lower unit costs of distribution that come with market leading scale creates a business that can generate good economics for shareholders for very long periods of time. Both Pick n Pay and Shoprite have had such scale for decades. Yet for shareholders, Pick n Pay has been a disaster and Shoprite has been a success. Why? And, more importantly from an investor’s perspective, were there advance warnings that Pick n Pay as an investment was going to be the disappointment that it has been?