Streetwires

Some would like to take some protea stems; others might want to pack a cute little meerkat into the luggage. If taking the real thing back isn’t an option, more and more visitors are choosing the wire and beaded version.

According to Riaan Hanekom, general manager of Cape Town-based Streetwires, when tourists visit the company’s showroom they relate particularly well to things they have seen on their travels. So, for instance, a bestseller at Streetwires is the adorable wire and beaded meerkat – available in two sizes. The Big Five and flowers are also popular.

Streetwise, is a profit making business based located in Shortmarket Street Cape Town, has been in business for eight years. It was conceived as a job-creation business, an aim in which it has succeeded spectacularly. The business now has 24 full-time staff and pays between 40 and 60 men and women for their wire work and beading. Clara Marume joined Streetwires in 2005 as a beader and is now a sales representative concentrating on small retail outlets. “Streetwires is very important for the people who work here,” says Clara. “It really helps them. Many are breadwinners and the money they make is very important to their families.”

Impacting on communities

The wire work is mostly done by men, while the beaders are all women, drawn from previously disadvantaged communities all over greater Cape Town. Most of the work is done in Shortmarket Street’s studios although the workers are free to take work home and do it there. “In this way,” says Riaan, “Streetwires has an even broader impact because often there is a brother or sister or other family member involved.”

Streetwires, Riaan explains, is a for-profit, R5-million business and it’s only by securing orders that they are able to keep so many people in work. “We’re very focused on the market,” says Riaan. “I like to believe that Streetwires is at the very forefront of innovation. Customers are always looking for something new and exciting – and that is what we deliver.” The products the team make are by no means limited to wild animals and flowers. Streetwires has a range of products for Christmas and another for St Valentine’s Day and closely follows customers’ preferences as well as changing trends. A new product is the funky pair of 1970s platform shoes conceived, designed and created in-house.

DIY beading

Outlets are retail shops, exports, corporate clients and the Streetwires shop itself. The Shortmarket shop sells a dazzling array of the most beautiful, colourful wire and beaded products. Visitors can also take part in workshops, learning how to create works of art for themselves. “We’re not just a production place,” says Riaan, “we’re a destination in our own right.”

“Tourism is extremely important for us,” says Riaan. “We employ one representative whose job it is to “sell” Streetwires to tour operators and travel agents and hotels. “Clara adds “that the tourists who visit the shop are important in that many of them will go home and then place orders from there”.

A key marketing initiative for Streetwires is the annual Design Indaba show. “TEP have been great towards us, especially when it comes to Design Indaba. It attracts a huge number of overseas visitors. These visitors are very important to us because half of our products are sold overseas. We really appreciate the help they give us with all the costs associated with the show. And the help they give us with the stand and brochures.”

In a warehouse across the road from the studio, Riaan proudly shows off a life-size lion that is at once startlingly life-like and dazzling in its detail. The lion took a team of four artists, over 8 months to produce. Beading is a time-consuming affair and each creation is a handmade, unique work of art. It can take one person two whole days to bead just one shoe...