Mr Price Group Ltd., South Africa’s top performing clothing retailer, plans to open more stores in the second half of its financial year after rising sales lifted its shares to a record. 

The company has seen a “change in cycle of our core market,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Blair said Thursday, citing improved trust in the country’s new government, fewer power cuts and an unemployment rate that fell for the first time in a year. 

The stock jumped as much as 9.5% to a record ZAR298.94 ($16.54) on Thursday after the company posted higher first-half sales and dividends. Shares have gained 85% this year, the best performance among clothing retailers on the FTSE/JSE Retailers Index in that period.

Shoppers looking for t-shirts and shoes that fit their budgets are buying more of the Durban-based company’s discount range of clothing, sporting goods and homewares online. Mr Price’s first-half retail sales growth of 5.1% outperformed the comparable market’s growth of 2.2%.

After opening almost half of the 200 stores it plans for the year, the company is likely to focus on locations outside of big malls that are easy for consumers to pop into for a quick browse, Blair told reporters after the earnings release. The company will open its 3,000th store next week. 

Mr Price is expanding rapidly in one of its newer segments — the sale of affordable mobile phones. While it was one of the last local clothing retailers to start selling the devices, Chief Financial Officer Praneel Nundkumar said the company has “ambitious growth plans” to add to its 46 standalone mobile phone stores.

It launched a private label handset last year, and that’s helped in “converting those margins in the right direction,” he said. It recently started selling a second batch of these phones with enhanced features.

Overall, online sales climbed 4%. While Blair expects that to keep increasing, it’s unlikely to be a significant part of the business. “Our customers want to browse online, but mostly shop in store,” he said.