Central News Agency or Consolidated News Agencies, better known simply as CNA, is a South African retail chain of stationery and book stores.

History

Founded in 1896 to sell newspapers in Johannesburg by using newspaper delivery boys on foot and bicycles, CNA initially focused on selling ''

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'', ''

The Standard The Standard may refer to: Entertainment * The Standard (band), an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon * ''The Standard'' (novel), a 1934 novel by the Austrian writer Alexander Lernet-Holenia * ''The Standard'' (Tommy Flanagan album), 1980 * ...

'' and the '' Diggers News'' newspapers. A breakthrough for the company came in 1902 when '' The Argus'' and the ''

Cape Times The ''Cape Times'' is an English-language morning newspaper owned by Independent News & Media SA and published in Cape Town, South Africa. the newspaper had a daily readership of 261 000 and a circulation of 34 523. By the fourth quarter of ...

'' newspapers granted a contract to the company to publish all of their newspapers. By 1904 the company had stores across South Africa and continued to expand to meet demand for news during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The company was floated on the

Johannesburg Stock Exchange JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

in 1903 to raise £120,000 (equivalent to £129,500,000 in 2017 based on its economic share). By 1928 the company was publishing most of South Africa's newspapers. Shortly after World War II the company expanded by opening outlets in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

(present day Zimbabwe). In 1983 CNA merged with Gallo Africa to form CNA Gallo. The company acquired South African cinema chain

Nu Metro Nu Metro Cinemas is a South African cinema company. Its head office is in Dunkeld West, Gauteng. Nu Metro's history dates to when the first Metro Theatre opened in Johannesburg in 1932. The oldest still-operating Nu Metro cineplex is Bedford, ...

in 1990 and proceeded to fully buy it out in 1992. By 1995 the company had 350 stores across South Africa. The company was acquired by Wooltru in 1995 for R500 million. A difficult retail market for stationery and books in the mid to late 1990s and internal restructuring put the company under financial pressure. This led to it and its remaining 130 outlets being sold to

Edcon Edcon Limited was a retail company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its subsidiaries included Edgars, a department store with 203 branches. In 2020, the Competition Tribunal approved the sale of the Edgars division to Retailability (pty) ...

in 2002 for R130 million.

References

Bain Capital companies Companies based in Johannesburg Retail companies established in 1896 1896 establishments in the South African Republic {{SouthAfrica-company-stub