Pep CEO Jaap Hamman explains that it was one of the chain’s customers who initially sparked the idea for the initiative. An unknown man donated R337,000 to settle 363 lay-bye accounts at a Pep branch in Mossel Bay in December. The good deed inspired a wave of similar donations, with many of them chronicled on the #ImStaying Facebook group, which has over 1,2 million members.
“We simply had to help contribute and started by donating R50,000 to the #ImStaying community initiative. At Pep, we felt that it was also our duty to encourage the ongoing support of this generous idea by making the process much easier. As a result, the Lay-by Buddy initiative was born," says Hamman.
The donation system has now been formalised, and people interested in contributing towards the initiative can request a Lay-by Buddy voucher at their local Pep store or head online to the retailer's website and select the Lay-by Buddy option. Donations (starting from R10) will be allocated as a credit to a random lay-by customer at Pep.
Pep Stores has kickstarted the initiative with a R1m contribution.
“A huge percentage of the current lay-bys at Pep are for winter wear, baby and children’s clothing. These are absolutely essential items for families and we want to make sure that the loss of income during the Covid-19 crisis doesn’t mean that children, especially, have to suffer from the cold this winter," says Hamman.
Jarette Petzer, founder of #ImStaying, comments, "We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Pep on this amazing initiative and look forward to growing and encouraging more of this corporate behaviour as we make our way out of the situation we are in as a country and as a people. If ever there was a time to unite our efforts and work together, that time is now.”
