Money for luxury items
Despite food prices rising and the repo rate going up, people in Mossel Bay still seem to have money for art, crafts and luxury items.
Mossel Bay Advertiser made calls to some of these business - interior decor shops, art and craft shops and galleries - in the town centre to find out how they are faring.
Also, there are a number of high-end shops at Hartenbos Seefront. These include clothing and luxury handbag boutiques, a surf shop, a shell curio shop and a secondhand bookstore which also sells jewellery.
Hartenbos Seefront manager Denise Lloyd said: "A number of these stores were here before the Seefront was established."
Lloyd said a premium boutique had reported that twice women had entered and loved an item, but their husbands had said: "I told you we would go to the sea for a holiday, but no luxuries."
However, the second-hand book shop at the Seefront is doing extremely well. It sells almost-new books and new, handmade jewellery.
Books
Lloyd pointed out: "People still read and the books are in such good condition, people don't perceive the business as a second-hand store."
She also noted that De Jagers clothing shop at the Hartenbos Seefront was doing extremely well.
An exclusive gift shop, which was in Hartenbos before the Seefront was built, is still also doing well.
The owner of a shop in Marsh Street, Mossel Bay, selling interior decor items, Marti Beijer, said: "The middle income group is spending less.
"The high income group is still stable and still buying. Those helping the industry are the newbies in town, all setting up new beach houses, which I cater for. It seems to be a nice growth period.
"You don't find people paying with a lot of cash, but mainly debit cards. It used to be that business owners who generated cash sales, used the cash on holiday.”
Over the festive season, Beijer had a popup shop in the Langeberg Mall, which did well, she said. Artist Maria Oosthuizen, who has a gallery and coffee shop in Marsh Street, said: "Things are quieter. I have a very high-end market. People are still buying gifts, but in smaller numbers.”
Oosthuizen makes smaller prints of her large paintings. She points out that because she makes prints, there are still affordable items people can buy if they cannot afford the large canvas artworks.
"The Lord carries us through," she says.
Commissions
"Right now I am busy with commissions. They are mainly paintings of children, which I do from photographs.
"I would like to say I am praying for everyone, that they can survive, because we are in a difficult place. Everyone is going through a tough time after Covid.”
Her high-end gallery is in a beautifully restored historic house and it has a hairdresser alongside and coffee shop with outdoor seating in the front.
The Town’s House in Market Street in Mossel Bay town centre is also doing well.
The municipality noted in a statement that two years ago it invested in the upgrade of what was then called the Arts and Crafts Centre.
"This was done to preserve the historical value of this building and to create a vibey, new hub where artists and crafters could sell their work.
"The premises is rented from the municipality by Mossel Bay Tourism, which manages The Town’s House and its various traders.
'Great care'
"The selection of artists and crafters is done with great care to ensure Mossel Bay’s best and most unique products are given a worthy sales platform."
The Town’s House experienced a bumper festive season, the municipality notes.
During December, the centre did approximately 65 000 transactions, benefitting the local economy, entrepreneurs and traders selling their goods at the centre. Under normal circumstances, the centre has an average of 10 000 transactions per month, which is still a good number.
Arts and crafts and décor shops are benefiting from the return of tourists and cruise ship passengers to town after their absence during the Covid-19 pandemic.