Veldskoen: ‘Recovering, but US exports on hold’

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Veldskoen Shoes, which went into business rescue in July, “is trading much better than it was when we started”, BR practitioner Julian Empedocles, of Almaz Consulting, said on Friday.

“There’s been an amazing turnaround. I decided to move the business back from Woodstock to its original premises in Paarden Eiland, which is much better for walk in foot traffic. We’ve had a really good week this week with international tourists. It’s giving the business a lot of international exposure. There’s a good atmosphere, among staff and clients.”

He said online sales, mostly to South African customers, are the biggest source of sales, followed by tourists.

Veldskoen is also still exporting “to some fantastic resellers in Botswana and Europe.

But its exports to the United States, which were the main target previously, “are on hold”, he said. “We have to restructure ourselves locally first.”

There is no set period currently for the business rescue operation. “We want it to be as short as possible,” he said, “The aim is to restructure the company and hand it back to the board of directors when it is solvent and trading successfully.”

Veldskoen Shoes is a fully owned subsidiary of Veldskoen Capital (Pty) Ltd, which was placed in liquidation. The shareholding of Veldskoen Shoes is currently in the hands of the joint liquidators.