Clothing Stores in Cape Town
You’ll find numerous international, designer clothing stores in Cape Town. They’re primarily located in the big shopping malls – see ‘Department stores and Shopping Centers’ above. I’ve listed a few of the more common chains (most of them at lower and middle income brackets) below.
PEP
With over 1400 branches in southern Africa, there’s a PEP store just about everywhere you go. They sell merchandise of the lowest conceivable quality for dirt cheap (R20 for a t-shirt). They also sell a variety of health and beauty products, including a wide range of the ubiquitous hair extensions so frequently sported by young African girls.
PEP’s umbrella company, Pepkor, also owns Ackermans, a similar low-priced clothing store with 450 branches in the country.
Visit http://www.pepstores.com and use the store locator to find your nearest branch.
For Ackermans, call 0860 900 100 or visit http://www.ackermans.co.za and use the store locator to find your nearest branch.
Mr. Price
Excluding PEP, this is the cheapest clothing store in the country, the difference being that the quality’s actually rather good. Designs are targeted at the teenage and young adult market, with large sections for swimwear, lingerie and jeans (The cheapest pair of which goes for as little as R50).
Visit http://www.mrprice.co.za and use the store locator to find your nearest branch.
Edgars
Edgars is a discount clothing store, stocking formal and casual clothing and sportswear for all genders and ages, including numerous big brands. Clothing is in the medium price range. The store also houses an extensive beauty section, with an excellent range of cosmetics and perfumes.
Visit http://www.edgars.co.za and use the store locator (http://www.edgars.co.za/Stores/Stores.aspx?MenuItem=Stores) to find your nearest branch.
Meltz
This chain sells decent branded and non-branded clothing at very low prices – in terms of quality, it often provides twice the value-for-money that Edgars does.
Call their customer service line on 0861 77 77 88 or use the store locator on http://www.meltz-stores.co.za .
Woolworths
Woolworths is a good place to shop for clothing essentials – the mark-up from Edgars means a massive difference in quality assurance. The stores are usually attached to a supermarket, making them doubly convenient (though Woolworths food products can be, at times, excessively expensive).
Call the customer care line on 0860 100 987 or visit http://www.woolworths.co.za and use the store locator.
Foschini
With more than 200 stores in the country, Foschini is a mixed-bag type clothing store that stocks women’s clothing products of all kinds at middle-of-the-road pricing. They also sell footwear, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances and children’s clothing.
Call 021 938 1911 or visit http://www.foschini.co.za and use their store locator to find your nearest branch.
Markham
Markham sells high-quality casual and smart casual clothing in the fashionable, urban vein. It can be a bit expensive, and the designs are often annoyingly loud.
Visit http://www.markham.co.za/ and use the store locator to find your nearest branch.
Truworths
Truworths has over 250 stores in the country, and sells upmarket, good quality casual and formal clothing at mid-range prices.
Truworths also owns YDE (Young Designers Emporium), the alternative, contemporary clothing store that sells lines by South Africa’s top young designers. YDE’s relatively expensive, but can be great fun as a sort of gem treasure-hunt – clothing is often racked in no particular order.
Call customer services on 021 460 7277 or visit http://www.truworths.co.za and use the store locator.
To contact YDE call 021 460 2800 or visit http://www.yde.co.za and use the store locator.
Tailors
While many stores offer alterations to ready-made garments, truly bespoke fittings are now a rarity, with only a couple of tailors still operating in the city.
Giovanni Porcelli is one such rarity, operating out of Thibault Square in the CBD. Many of his customers, he says, are German, and come to him for summer suits when down on holiday. Porcelli was an in-house tailor for Markham for 20 years, until they discontinued their tailoring service. The average price of a suit at Porcelli’s establishment is R4500 (shirts can be had at as little as R700). You can contact him on 021 419 8166.
Maurice Abrahamson is another such old-timer, known for his traditional West End of London cut. His suits go for around R11000 a piece. He operates out of St. George’s Mall, also in the CBD. You can contact him on 021 423 3453.
