Durban, KZN, SA – It’s a been a terrible 3 months, to be frank.

You can’t influence things like load shedding, so you have to look to yourself, to offer the right merchandise at a price consumers are willing to pay in a price-sensitive market.

We’ve been selling online now for 3 years. It’s a very tough market, and you must throw a lot of money at it. Most of the online customers are from outside Durban, and mostly outside KZN. We’ve been showing growth, but it’s been a heck of a few years.

Also, the range of merchandise hasn’t been exciting, and winter is never exciting. Can’t wait for summer, which is a long season for us. Hopefully summer will pick up.

Can’t day I’ve heard anyone say things are flying. 

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Richemont, the SIX Swiss Exchange- and Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed luxury goods group, has bought a controlling stake in Milan-based men’s and women’s footwear manufacturer Gianvito Rossi, according to a release on Friday:

Gianvito Rossi, Founder, CEO and Creative Director of the eponymous brand, will retain a stake in the company and continue to nurture and develop the Maison in partnership with Richemont.

Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Richemont’s Fashion & Accessories Maisons, said:

“Gianvito Rossi is an exceptional Maison with unique savoir-faire in the world of shoemaking. Its core attributes of uncompromising quality, elegance and timelessness are perfectly aligned with Richemont’s values.”

The transaction has no material financial impact on Richemont’s consolidated net assets or operating result for the year ending 31 March 2024. The performance of Gianvito Rossi will be reported under the ‘Other’ business area, which is mostly composed of the Fashion & Accessories Maisons. Completion remains subject to certain customary conditions and regulatory approvals. 

Most would-be South African exporters are uncompetitive. So says an export facilitator who has specialised in taking advantage of AGOA in several African states.
      He works across multiple industries, including fresh produce and clothing, and has been involved in footwear before.
      He said Chinese- and Taiwanese-owned factories in Lesotho, Kenya and Madagascar were far more competitive and productive, “and they should be an example to SA factories”.
      He said SA manufacturers too often had very short-term views, were “out to make a quick buck”, and expected profit margins that were much higher than competitors in the other African states.
      “Generally, the Chinese-owned manufacturers are hungrier for business and creative in overcoming hurdles. Infrastructure problems? Outside the factories in Lesotho, there’s nothing. Inside, it’s like walking into a different world. Power problems? They have generators. Any other problems? They find a way.
“They have willing and productive labour forces operating under strict management disciplines to achieve standards set down.
“SA should be cleaning up with the exchange rate and not always blame the authorities, load shedding, etc. The labour force in SA is apathetic and looking for handouts. The Western Cape Government is trying to resurrect the CMT factories to make for foreign brands, but they’re uncompetitive and they haven’t invested to keep themselves up to date.”
He does highly rate one industry in the Western Cape: yacht building.
      “To be an exporter, you need to hands-on, you need to micro-manage input costs, and you must aim to make the best.”

Shelly Beach, KZN, SA – David Boulanger started out making leather sandals, belts and hats from his VW Kombi in Jeffrey’s Bay in the 1970s, and has been in business as The Little Leather Shop since 1980. He and wife, Ivy, are about to launch online retail – prompted by the slow recovery of business post-covid.
      The business includes a workshop, where they continue to make products under their Totem brand, and the retail shop, which sells a broader range, including branded travel goods. The bought-in brands are the bigger side of the business.
“We’re not doing as well as we were,” he said. “Previously, we were sustained by the holiday periods and up-country visitors, but these July holidays, although the roads were busy, business wasn’t. With the cost of toll roads, petrol and accommodation, visitors don’t have a lot left over. It’s quite a serious situation.”
Online is new territory, and “we know it will involve a lot of work”, he said, “but although we’re in our 70s, we’re still going for it”. The website will be www.totemsleather.co.za.
He has developed a thumb brace for himself “because my joints are messed up from all these years of leather work”, and he hopes that, too, will become a popular item.

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA – After 3 months under new ownership, Eddels has settled into a routine which will hopefully lead it into sustainable profitability, new GM Steven Jacobs said last week.
      “This is a business in distress, and we’re not trying to hide it,” he said, “but as big as the challenges are, there are also opportunities.”
      Production has been scaled back further. By the time of the takeover, production had dropped to 1 500 pairs/day of mixed leather and synthetic, formal and casual, men’s, women’s and children’s footwear. Now, it’s 450 pairs/day of men’s formal leather footwear. Staff numbers have dropped from around 300 to 108.
      “We think that’s the right level at the moment,” he said. “The optimistic estimate is that we can turn this business around in 6 months. I would say 2 years would be closer to the mark.”
      Eddels was bought by Johannesburg-based Caralli Footwear – itself part of a bigger group – and Caralli specialises in formal men’s leather footwear.
      “We have experience in this industry,” Jacobs said, “and we have a lot of very talented people trying to make this business work to the point where it can run itself.
      “We’re not going to try to double production this year. We can look at that, and at diversifying production, when it’s stable.”
      He said reducing the staff had been a difficult decision, but that “if we’d kept everyone, the business would have failed – the intention is that as and when we grow, we’ll bring those people back. Where else would we find those skills?”
      Management cuts were proportionately greater; Chris Paul has been promoted to production and planning manager, Richard Starmer is now design and technical manager. Among his other inputs, Caralli MD and group shareholder Samet Karali oversees the original Eddels team of agents.
      Jacobs, an actuarial science graduate who was working for the group in Germany, was brought back to run Eddels. “I’ve had footwear experience with the group, but mostly on the retail side,” he said.
      “We’re selling to a mix of chains and independents, and that’s the way we want to keep it,” he said. “One thing we’ve noticed is that there has been a shift by retailers to source more leather footwear locally.”