Cape Town Shopping

Home » Cape Town Shopping

Cape Town has come a long way since “buying local” meant picking up some beadwork and carvings. Cape Town’s sophisticated blend of Afro-Euro – evident particularly in décor items – has been finding its way into international design-savvy shops in London, New York, Paris. Naturally you’ll find far greater variety, and friendlier pricing, if you do your own foraging.

You’ll find the city’s centre’s best shopping areas in pockets and certain streets – a good start is in Green Market Square from where you can walk up Church or Shortmarket into Long Street. Continue down Long (towards the mountain) as it extends up the slope into what then becomes Kloof street. Also a must for keen shoppers is Woodstock, where you’ll find the densest concentration of contemporary design and edgy art on the continent.

Waterfront

Out of this World

If you’re short on time and looking for a curated collection of high-end African craft, Sue and Peter Vith have an excellent eye, and have long-standing relationships with traders and suppliers across the continent. There’s some gorgeous furniture (the Nigerian beaded chairs are particularly covetable), but for the most part the collection focuses on accent items – many of them originally utility pieces – that will inject a hint of the exotic into an elegant room. You’ll pay accordingly but it saves searching through sprawling, market-style offerings.

Contact: 00 27 21 434 3540; outofthisworld.co.za
Opening times: Daily, 9am-9pm

Watershed

If you are not a keen shopper but just want to take home small gifts or a few locally-produced mementos, head straight to the Watershed (next to the Two Oceans Aquarium). With over 150 stalls in a large warehouse, it offers by far the most varied selection of Africa-sourced and produced jewellery, textiles, toys, homeware, ceramics, shoes, and much more. It’s a great place to browse – much more interesting than the sanitised Victoria Wharf mall nearby. A few hours here combines well with a browse in The Biscuit Mill, an upmarket shopping centre just down the road in Woodstock.

Contact: 00 27 21 408 7600; waterfront.co.za
Opening times: Daily, 10am-7pm

City centre

Mungo & Gemima
Founded in 2008 by Kirsty Bannerman and Marian Park-Ross, Mungo & Gemima has a reputation for offering a small range of well-picked clothing, accessories and shoes designed by South African talent. They have branched out into Watershed and Claremont (and are due to go online soon) but their flagship store enjoys a great city centre location diagonally opposite MeMeMe, also stocking a variety of good SA designers, and definitely combining. You’re in luck if you’re here at the beginning of any month: on the first Thursday the shop stays open till 9pm, and everything in the shop is discounted by 10 per cent.

Contact: 00 27 21 424 5016; mungoandjemima.com
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 9.30am-6pm; Sat, 10am-5pm

Pan African Market

You’ll find Cape Town’s largest selection of tribal African masks, statues, geometric Ndebele-inspired paintings, beaded dolls, jewellery, kuba cloths and other textiles, drums and other musical instruments spread across all three floors of this indoor market. It’s a great experience as you can interact and bargain directly with traders who hail from all over sub-Saharan Africa. There are more than 30 stalls representing at least 14 countries, and there is so much choice it can lead to sensory overload. The traders themselves are friendly, informative, non-pushy and prepared to haggle, though don’t expect a discount on every item.

Contact: 00 27 21 426 4478; facebook.com/Pan-African-Market
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat, 9am-3pm

The Olive Branch Deli

This tiny deli, tucked away down a narrow corridor in a corner of the Lifestyle Centre, is like a 19th-century apothecary or Victorian grocer, with wooden cabinets and floor-to-ceiling shelves jam-packed with visually arresting produce, large hessian sacks of wares, racks of bread (including the best gluten-free loaves) and a 1920s jazz soundtrack. Conceived as a community grocer by its hands-on owner-managers, brother and sister Ommy and Hélène Demetriou, the emphasis is on showcasing local produce for clients who are conscientous in what they eat.

Contact: 00 27 73 847 5499; olivebranchdeli.com
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm; Sat, 10am-5pm

Woodstock

Heartworks
One of the most wonderful craft shops in the city, Heartworks never fails to deliver when looking for a quality handmade gift. Beautifully curated by Margaret Woerman, who sources “artworks made with the heart” from all over South Africa (most of the country’s best craftwork is produced in Venda and Kwazulu Natal, and to a lesser extent in the Eastern Cape). She supports marginalised women in particular, providing makers – many of them rurally based – with direct access to a retail window in the city, meaning that prices are often unbelievably low in order to turn over stock and keep cash flowing to the suppliers.

Contact: 00 27 21 447 8194; facebook.com/heartworks
Opening Times: Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm; Sat, 9am-2pm.

Imiso Ceramics

Cape Town has many excellent ceramicists, but Andile Dyalvane and Zizipho Poswa really stand out. Their work bears some European influences, like the Picasso-inspired Africasso range, but for the most part it’s rooted in Africa, with delicate renderings of traditional objects like isiXhosa milk pails and Ngumi storage vessels. The beautifully textured Scarified Collection has been inspired by tribal body scarification, and is particularly evocative. Zizipho Poswa specialises in delicate pinch pots, and her functional ceramics are simply wonderful.

Contact: 00 27 21 447 2627; imisoceramics.co.za
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm; Sat, 9am-2pm

Cocoafair

One of only two bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the city, Cocoafair is founded on the principles of social entrepreneurship and fair trade. It’s a factory-shop, so you can witness the process through large glass windows before nibbling on samples of their extensive range, with interesting flavour combinations like lemongrass and cilantro, cardamom and citrus, or passionfruit and black pepper. For a melt-in-the-mouth praline, amble to the Woodstock Exchange (66 Albert Road) and pop into Honest, a tiny artisanal chocolate company whose Original Bonbons will blow your tastebuds straight to heaven. Honest.

Contact: 00 27 21 447 7355; facebook.com/cocoafair
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 8.30am-5pm

The South Africa Print Gallery

Woodstock is the city’s art hub, with world-class contemporary art galleries showcasing artists from across the continent. But if you want art that’s easy to carry home, pop into the SA Print Gallery (SAPG). Established by master printmaker Gabriel Clark-Brown in 2009, it’s the only exclusive fine art print dealership in the city, and the best place to browse for SA limited edition prints. Aside from selecting works by some of the big local names in printmaking (like William Kentridge), the owners seeks out lesser known artists who display strong technical qualities and embrace unusual subject matters.

Contact: 00 27 21 462 6851; printgallery.co.za
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4.30pm; Sat, 9.30am-1pm

Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay Modern
An unassuming entrance and a flight of stairs leads to this Kalk Bay classic, rammed with a cornucopia of excellent art and crafts. It possesses one of the most comprehensive collections of ceramic artists in the city, but the walls are also well adorned with works by William Kentridge, Nicolaas Maritz, Cecil Skotnes, and there’s some great jewellery on display. Gallery director Cheryl Rumbak has collaborated on Bushmen community projects and the gallery is thus home to one of the largest collections of contemporary Bushmen prints, paintings and textiles.

Contact: 00 27 21 788 6571; kalkbaymodern.co.za
Opening times: Mon-Sun, 9.30am-5pm

Big Blue

Big Blue is famous for printing outrageous slogans on T-shirts made from locally milled and recycled fabrics. It’s popular with South Africans who love the sense of humour, like “Game Over” under a bride and groom, or “I just can’t” above an upside down Nike logo. Aside from shirts, owners James Robertson and Philip Cronje have an eclectic offering, with bo-ho female fashion on the rails and lots of retro-kitsch novelty gifts on tables. They have several outlets, but Kalk Bay is most charming.

Contact: 021 788 2399; bigblue.co.za
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-5pm

GET YOUR FREE TECHSPO BROCHURE AND
NEVER MISS AN UPDATE

Sign up for email updates and get your the FREE TECHSPO Cape Town brochure and stay in the know about all things TECHSPO including price changes and discounts

PRICE INCREASES IN
PRICE INCREASES IN:
PRICE INCREASES IN
PRICE INCREASES IN:
Bottom Fixed Timer Super Early Bird