While I have shopped at IKEA in Southampton with my son now living in the UK, I have not been near an IKEA anything in Cape Town. This changed last week, during Design Indaba 2019, when IKEA had a prominent IKEA Överallt ( meaning everywhere in Swedish) outdoor stand at the foot of the Artscape Theatre building. It reflected the best creativity in design in Africa, a social responsibility project of the global Swedish home interior design company. But there is little chance of the company opening any stores in our country within the next five years, it was confirmed. Continue reading →
Tag Archives: furniture
Cape Town retains design focus, despite World Design Capital 2014 having come to an end!
Despite Cape Town’s year as World Design Capital 2014 having come to an end, its design legacy lives on, not only with design projects created for last year’s event, but with future design projects too.
Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy punts the legacy of World Design Capital 2014 (both are funded by the City Continue reading →
New Watershed in V&A Waterfront showcases ‘Africa’s largest collection of craft and design’!
The V&A Waterfront has completely transformed what was previously the Blue Shed near the V&A Market on the Wharf, renaming it Watershed (a corny name which tries to be clever, but it does not reflect at all what is inside the building), and creating a showcase of 168 crafters, designers, and more under one roof.
I was invited to attend the official opening of Watershed on 
Thursday evening, and so were thousands of others, as the traffic jam inside the V&A was unbelievable, a trip between Kloof Street and the parking garage opposite Watershed taking 45 minutes traveling time! There was no warning on radio nor through the V&A’s electronic Continue reading →
WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 5 May
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The Consumer Ombudsman dealt with more than 3000 complaints against retailers and service suppliers since its inception nine months ago, reports The New Age. The most complaints received related to furniture retailers, followed by telecommunications companies, motor vehicle retailers, appliance retailers, clothing retailers, and suppliers of financial services. Consumers have becoming more demanding in terms of disputes and are more aware of their rights in lodging complaints since the Consumer Protection Act was introduced. Retailers and service providers are improving their service as they understand the implications of the Act.
* One of Cape Town’s best qualified chefs will be Chef Andres Condé, who is joining the Harbour House Group from Spain in June. He will work on a revamp of the La Parada and Harbour House menus.
* Durban will become a bigger threat to Cape Town’s tourism industry if its plans to redevelop its beachfront into ‘Miami style tourist hubs‘ come to fruition. The local municipality has stated that they are looking Continue reading →