Chic Shoetique, trusted shoe store Since 1980.

 

According to Wikipedia, a Family Business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business as well as the willingness to use this ability to pursue distinctive goals.

Although this is a proper explanation of a family business, it lacks the love and compassion between family members; the challenges faced and the risks taken, to start a business from scratch, in an industry you know absolutely nothing about…and then take that business and grow it into a strong, well established and respected brand in the local community and surrounding areas, towns and suburbs.  

 

Now let’s go back to the beginning. In 1979 a young, but very dynamic carpenter, Mr. Siggi Duvel, moved with his wife and 3 daughters from Namibia to the lovely town of Somerset West in the Western Cape to build a solid future for his family.

 

His first attempt was to sell car parts, this did not go well…but then one day he was sitting with his wife, Vera, in the main street of Somerset West – they were basically studying the Town’s main business area, current shops, shopper trends etc. and the next moment he realized that the main street business district was lacking a proper high-end shoe store. As we all know – Timing is everything and he was at the right place at the right time, because a Shopping Arcade was being built, right there in main road and he could secure a space for his Bespoke Shoe store which he dreamed about, inside the newly built Circle Centre.  It is worth mentioning that the Circle Centre is still going strong today, despite all the new shopping developments and competition popping up in the Town over the last 41 years and Mr. Duvel’s shoe store – Chic Shoetique – that launched on 26 March 1980 is still trading inside Circle Centre to this day.  When he launched Chic Shoetique, his oldest daughter Sonja, was only 10 years old. 

 

In the years to follow Mr. Duvel kept adjusting his product range and brands according to changing times, staying ahead of competitors and stocking popular brands and styles to meet Consumer needs.  He later opened a store in Eikestad Mall, Stellenbosch which Sonja and her sister managed for years and around the same time, he opened another Chic Shoetique store in Somerset Mall, which launched on on 22 September 1993.  Due to a need for more shoe stores inside the Mall, the family decided to open a sister store in the Mall but with a different name.  At this stage Eikestad Mall was going through a revamping process and the family made the decision to close the Eikestad store after 16 years; and launched the sister store, Shoe Lovers. On 28 Nov 2009, Shoe Lovers opened it’s doors in Somerset Mall. The family says it is the perfect name, because of their extreme love for shoes as well as the shoe industry!

 

 

It is most certainly this love that contributed to all her successes when Sonja took over the full management of the family business on 1 February 2017. Taking the brand to the next level where all industries are part of the Social Network Revolution in Business and Marketing, where Social Media and E-Commerce businesses are taking over the world. This is a business environment no one could ever have even dreamed about 40 years back; but in any successful family business, the new generations have to adjust the business to keep up with current trends. 

 

This is the story of Chic Shoetique, opening their doors with the turn of a decade on 26 March 1980 and 41 years later this family business – that started out with very humble beginnings – are still going from strength to strength!

 

After surviving…and thriving for over four decades, they now also have the knowhow and knowledge to understand that the only way to survive the next 4 decades is to grow with the times…and customers all over South Africa will now have the benefit to buy from their bespoke range of branded shoes with the launch of their Online Shoe Boutique!