When South Africans envision gearing up for an outdoor adventure, Cape Union Mart is often the first name that comes to mind.
Yet, the Krawitz family’s path to establishing this beloved retailer was anything but smooth—they faced their own significant challenges along the way.
Cape Union Mart can be traced back to the late Philip Krawitz, an immigrant from the Soviet Union.
He arrived in Johannesburg with virtually no money and did not speak a word of English. He first opened a general dealer named P. Krawitz and Co, which sold, as his grandson Philip Krawitz described, “anything that he could make a buck out of.”
Mainly for health reasons, Krawitz then moved down to Cape Town.
Feeling that the previous name he used was not great for a store, he wanted to name the store “Mart,” given its popularity overseas.
However, he could not get a registration for that, so he tried for the “Union Mart,” named after the Union of South Africa. He also could not get a registration for that: but the third time was a charm, and he eventually got the nod for the Cape Union Mart.
The first store opened on Corporation Street in Cape Town in 1933 with the intention of having the store known as the “Tavern of the Seas” for fishermen, servicemen and tourists passing through Cape Town.
Krawitz went to his creditors to inform them that he could not pay them, but if they gave him a chance and some stock, he promised to pay them back—which they agreed to.
“That is a lesson in society today that sometimes you’ve just got to help a guy in trouble rather than put him into liquidation,” Krawitz’s grandson said.
From the get-go, Cape Union Mart was already battling major retailers, placed smack bang between Ok Bazaars and Woolworths—so the business had a massive hill to climb.
Krawitz realised that he had to stand out to make it. He began stocking extremely “niche,” unusual, and hard-to-find items, which gave him the initial edge.
The first store was a typical ‘Army and Navy Store’ and became famous stocking a wide range of interesting gadgets, useful tools, practical clothing and just about everything “from an anchor to a toothpick”.
The product offering compared to the top retailers of the time was so diverse, and apart from having an extensive range, it became known as ‘the friendly store’.
Famously, to draw customers to this destination store, Krawitz printed out a small map of Cape Town—smaller than a postcard. On the map, he highlighted the Post Office, Railway Station, and the first-ever Cape Union Mart store.
When passenger ships docked in the port at the Waterfront harbour, Krawitz would take his little boat and row out to the ship. He then boarded the ship and handed out his self-made marketing material – the little map of Cape Town.
He would then row back to shore, rush to his store and wait for his customers to pop in.
During the 1940s and, in particular, the Second World War, it supplied visiting soldiers and navy troops with some of the luxuries and necessities associated with the military. Passing whaling ships and foreign fishermen were also catered for with a unique array of merchandise from around the world.
After Philip fell ill, his son Arthur came into the business in the late 1940s.
In the early 1950s, Arthur introduced South African consumers to global brands like Levi jeans, Hong Kong anoraks, Norwegian socks, Gore-Tex rain jackets, and drip-dry safari suits – continuing to be a general clothing dealer and army navy store.
In the post war years and into the 1960’s the company grew and prospered. Under Arthur’s leadership, the company became famous for non-seasonal merchandise and started to specialise in selling summer clothing to people touring overseas in winter and vice versa.
In the 1970s, Arthur had a heart attack and his son, Philip, came into the business.
“We decided to refocus the business to more sort of on the outdoor market, which we saw growing like wildfire in South Africa,” which became immensely popular, said Philip.
They saw camping gear as a popular commodity and decided to focus on unique camping clothing. This was tricky as if they wanted to import from China, they would have had to do so in huge quantities, and local manufacturers did not give them exactly what they wanted.
Thus, they bought a little factory in the early 1980s, and K-Way was born.
“Nobody could remember the name Krawitz so they used to call my dad Mr K and he always used to want things done his way, so we used to say, all right, let’s do it the K-Way, so one day I said, well you know that’s a great name for trademark,” said Philip.
In 1997, the K-Way factory opened in Ottery, where it makes tens of thousands of garments monthly.
Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength. In 1999, it launched the Old Khaki clothing brand.
In 2002, it opened the first Cape Union Mart stores outside of South Africa, in Botswana and Namibia.
In 2006, it launched the female clothing brand, Poetry.
Since then, Cape Union Mart has remained South Africa’s top destination for outdoor adventure gear, specializing in hiking, running, skiing, camping, travel, and safaris.
The Cape Union Mart Group is based in Cape Town and currently houses three major retail chains, including outdoor, footwear, fashion, kids wear, and homeware stores, as well as a corporate uniform division.
The group collectively has over 200 stores, a long way from its humble beginnings on Corporation Street, to a household name in South Africa.
Cape Union Mart said that what sets them apart and has been key to their longevity is that: “Our difference is the experiential shopping experience led by our expert salesmen who are trained weekly to provide the best possible experience.”
“We’re excited about our future as we take on new heights with our in-house brands in new stores and grow our brand offering. We will continue our efforts to increase sustainably made collections and improve garment technology,” they added.