REVAMPED SINGLE FABSTARZ TARGETS MORE ELEGANT STATUS

After moving to a revamped space in the same mall at Airport Junction in Gaborone, owner of Single Fabstarz boutique, Lekang Makhiwa, says they are trying to grow to an even more elegant and glamorous brand and make people feel better in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic. She told Showtime in an interview that they have partnered with local brand, White Label to sell the latter’s fragrances.

The lady who began everything from the boot of her car a decade ago indicated that even though the pandemic has been a huge challenge for just about everyone, Single Fabstarz has really grown from having regular clients to having clients from other countries. “Our customer base is growing so we now have a lot of clientele from as far as Ireland and Canada. People know about our brand and they trust us. We now want to go across the border and have a store in South Africa,” she revealed.

Despite having a single store in Botswana, Makhiwa is optimistic that she will sail through after closing down the one that was located in Phakalane. She admitted that business has really gone down, citing the period when the country was on lockdown as the lowest.

“We started picking up in November when people started shopping. Apart from that, we have a problem of not fitting so people feel reluctant before they buy,” she said. Single Fabstarz sells women clothing and accessories only, so Makhiwa said as a business they are still learning so they will eventually cater for men. “In this business you have to know what people want and when to make changes,” she indicated. She also added that they have a full functioning website where people can buy their products online. Makhiwa said they don’t really push specific brands, because they also want to market their Single Fabstarz brand.

The woman from Ts hesebe said her dream is to have a manufacturing factory in Botswana so that they make everything locally. “Getting all the material that we need is a challenge, but if we had everything done here I think we could succeed,” she said.

For a web developer who quit his day job to focus on her business full time, Makhiwa said she has created employment as well with a staff compliment of seven people. She thanked Batswana for supporting and growing her brand.