Prettier offshoot is pure Poetry
● You know you’re approaching a Poetry shop when you get a whiff of its scented air. The brand, which was born out of the legacy of Cape Union Mart founder Philip Krawitz snr, has evolved from clothing to gifts and homeware.
Cape Union Mart, the family-run business founded in 1933, was established as an outdoor, travel and leisurewear retailer. Poetry was born just over a decade ago when its first standalone store opened in Cape Town’s Cavendish Square in 2008.
Martine Vogelman, the company’s director and the great-granddaughter of its founder, described the evolution from the outdoor store’s Old Khaki women’s clothing line to what was essentially a prettier clothing offering.
“The Poetry brand was born within a Cape Union Mart store. And within a few years or a few seasons, we realised that the merchandise had become really beautiful and it was quite strange to put a tent next to a beautiful floral dress.
“We realised that this brand had actually grown an identity of its own and was worthy of a different shopping experiment and we removed it from Cape Union Mart stores and launched our own Poetry standalone chain,” said Vogelman.
The group now has 301 stores, of which 37 are Poetry stores and 38 Keedo stores for children’s high-end designer clothing.
A growing segment in the Poetry brand is the homeware division, which was originally built into Poetry as a lifestyle element catering for women’s gift purchases.
“We wanted to evolve from a journey of just providing her with clothing to taking Poetry into her heart and her home,” said Vogelman.
All of the retailer’s brands were incubated from the bigger Cape Union Mart, including Tread + Miller, she said.
“If we believe that they [brands] are attractive enough and have the right success rate, then we kind of fine tune them and we allow them to grow into standalone brands that can be outside of the Cape Union Mart group.”
The exception is Keedo, which it bought in 2016 when the brand was struggling due high debt and steep rentals. The group renegotiated its rentals with mall landlords, a move that has helped turn the retailer around, said Vogelman.
“When we acquired Keedo we realised that they had been hamstrung through a lack of funding.
“We were quite horrified at the rentals that they were being charged as a small group and in many instances renegotiated rentals. And we’re experiencing a substantial turnaround. We’ve grown that chain since we acquired it three years ago, [from] 24 to 38 stores. We believe with the right opportunities Keedo will go from strength to strength,” she said.
With all of its successes, Cape Union Mart is not immune to the effects of a weak economy. Vogelman said rental costs are one of the bigger challenges the company is facing. They are proving problematic to the retailer’s expansion plans.
“As a South African brand, we are facing quite a tricky economy. We realise that we cannot change the external environment so we aim to do all the things we do under our control much better,” she said.
As a result, the retailer is carefully reconsidering opportunities that it would have readily invested in otherwise.
Vogelman said that the investments made in the group’s online operations have paid off.
We realised that this brand had actually grown an identity of its own
Martine Vogelman
Cape Union Mart director