Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
TAILORS is Gwanda Town have found a niche in the market through manufacturing school wear, on a large scale, that people used to buy in Bulawayo.
Some tailors are slowly phasing out various clothing items which they used to manufacture, replacing them with school uniforms.
Parents from the town had to travel to Bulawayo to buy school wear.
Now they can access school uniforms including hats, blazers and track suits from local shops.
Mr Ekem Nkomo, a tailor in Gwanda said when schools opened, they sold school uniforms worth over R10 000 in two weeks.
“We were mainly into manufacturing clothes but then we noticed that we could make good money from selling uniforms.
While people can do away with buying new clothes for themselves, they can’t forgo buying school uniforms for children.
Uniforms have a lot of business when schools open.
During the first two weeks of the term, we sold over R10 000 worth of uniforms,” he said.
“During the course of the term; people come to buy uniforms here and there so we focus more on sewing and stocking uniforms.
We will be preparing so that when schools open and people come to buy uniforms, we don’t run out of stock.
We will also be attending to various orders such as people who want to have various attires sewn.”
Mr Nkomo said he always ensures that his products compete with uniforms found in renowned shops.
Mrs Sehliselwe Ndlovu, who operates Chase Textiles, said she has made it a point to have a uniform for every school within Gwanda District.
“Our goal is to ensure that no customer should fail to get a uniform that they are looking for.
We try to cover all the schools in Gwanda, both rural and urban.
When someone comes and I realise that I don’t have the uniform in stock I then find out details about the uniform and then I produce it and add it to my stock,” she said.
Mrs Ndlovu said at first her stock comprised shirts/ blouses, dresses and shorts/skirts.
She said she now has blazers, tracksuits, hats, t-shirts and any other item which makes up a school uniform.
Mrs Ndlovu said she was also selling shoes, satchels and socks, although she was not manufacturing them.
She said her desire is to make school wear available to customers under one roof.
“As Chase Textiles our goal is to ensure that customers can access their school wear under one roof.
People used to travel to Bulawayo to buy uniforms but now we have brought the service closer to them.
“At first people were reluctant to buy our products as they felt that quality uniforms were only found at certain shops but they have seen and proven that our products are of good quality as well,” she said.
Ms Belinda Moyo, a parent from Guyu in Gwanda said it was a huge relief that uniforms are now accessible.
“We used to face serious challenges when buying uniforms as we had to travel from the rural areas to Gwanda Town and then from there, we would proceed to Bulawayo just to buy school wear.
There used to be one shop which had limited stock.
Now we have a number options to choose from,” she said.
–@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter