I am very precious about two things in my life. Nobody is allowed to touch my pen, which has to be a black rollerball from an art shop nogal (not just a sommer common pen from a grocery shop), and I have a weakness for sneakers, takkies, tekkies, call them what you will.
My takkies are lined up neatly in their pairs and they represent the travelling I have done, the heels I ditched long ago, and they also get worn for every occasion from weddings to funerals.
I have beaded, gaudy jobs from Thailand, a soft Napa-leather handmade pair from Turkey, a silver pair of Pierre Cardin, a couple of pairs of Skechers (in other countries they don’t cost thousands like they do in SA), some shocking pink ostrich-leather jobs from Oudtshoorn and then the in-betweeners and cheapies.
My two pairs of Asics running shoes are my most prized possessions because they have come such a long way with me and I treat them like friends, so they don’t get clobbered on muddy running trails and have never been in dog poo!
As I get older and more minimalistic about everything I buy, I am proud to say I don’t have a hundred pairs of shoes like some of my friends.
Instead, I treat the modest number of takkies I do have with TLC.
No wonder then that meeting Bandile Ntukantu, who calls himself a “sneakerhead”, was like finding a kindred spirit in the world.
Bandile was a tourism officer for the Bitou municipality, but his contract expired just when Covid-19 hit us in 2020.
Faced with adversity, this Plettenberg Bay entrepreneur had to survive so he racked his brains and came up with the concept of cleaning takkies — a recession-proof industry since there will always be shoes that need cleaning.
Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash was born and is now a thriving business he runs from his garage in the Plett township of Kwanokuthula.
Two years down the line, he cleans and restores at least 40 pairs of sneakers every week.
There are some serious A-listers that make it into his VIP workshop, like Christian Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and a designer label I hadn’t heard of — the Kanye West version of a takkie called Yeezy, he tells me.
He says that, to his surprise, his clientele comprises mature people who are earning good salaries, rather than the youngsters he had imagined.
Life works in strange ways, he says, as it would seem he was destined for this business.
“As a kid I sacrificed other things and saved so hard, just to have good sneakers, and then I started learning how to look after them and clean them so they lasted,” Bandile says.
This entailed watching YouTube videos, buying special cleaning brushes, cleaning materials and just generally mollycoddling his prized possessions — a passion that has turned into a profession.
Bandile knows his sneakers, each and every brand.
“Every shoe material determines the type of brush that should be used.
“You can’t use hard brushes on shoes with soft materials because you could ruin or even tear a client’s shoe,” he says.
“Most of the shoes I clean are expensive.
“My clients take pride in what they wear so it’s always important to use a suitable brush and the right cleaning agents for the best outcome.”
A friend has now joined him as the shoes coming in for cleaning are too much for one person to do.
These extra hands on board have allowed him to add the service of detailing and further customising shoes by painting them.
And the latest addition to his team is a schoolboy who can fetch and deliver the shoes for a small fee on top of the R50 cleaning service.
When Bandile started Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash, he had the help of his good friend, Ayabonga Rhafuza, who helped him convert his garage into a funky space with mural art and even a limited Skoli clothing range.
This all makes for a very cool backdrop for his popular social media posts, which up until now have been the only way he could afford advertising.
Lest customers worry that their beloved shoes are not safe in a township (he does get asked this question), he makes a point of saying he has taken extra security measures to make sure they are safe.
Two years later, the next step, Bandile says, is to be able to afford rent and move into the central town part of Plettenberg Bay.
“I already get so much business even in the township, so imagine if I had a place that was visible how many people would want their sneakers cleaned and made beautiful.”
He also dreams of a future for his business, which includes a strong digital presence, a place where he can partner with detergent or shoe-cleaning companies, so that he can include short video clips on how to look after shoes and clean them, a kind of platform for fellow sneakerheads, he says.
Bandile says we live in a sneaker-crazy world.
Just like jeans revolutionised the fashion world, so too are takkies taking the world by storm with versions to suit every occasion from smart to sporty to those suitable for the workplace.
He has a nugget of wisdom which he imparts to youngsters and those who have had to recalculate their routes since Covid.
“Follow your passion. Try and do with what you have, find a product or service in demand for the area in which you live.
“If you wait for capital, you will never start your business.”
And he should know, having found the perfect business niche for himself, since there will never be a shortage of dirty shoes.
Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash and Bandile can be contacted on ilovesportqha@gmail.com
Phone him on 084-748-1315.
There’s no business like dirty sneakers
Plett entrepreneur turns passion for takkies into thriving cleaning service
Image: Supplied
I am very precious about two things in my life. Nobody is allowed to touch my pen, which has to be a black rollerball from an art shop nogal (not just a sommer common pen from a grocery shop), and I have a weakness for sneakers, takkies, tekkies, call them what you will.
My takkies are lined up neatly in their pairs and they represent the travelling I have done, the heels I ditched long ago, and they also get worn for every occasion from weddings to funerals.
I have beaded, gaudy jobs from Thailand, a soft Napa-leather handmade pair from Turkey, a silver pair of Pierre Cardin, a couple of pairs of Skechers (in other countries they don’t cost thousands like they do in SA), some shocking pink ostrich-leather jobs from Oudtshoorn and then the in-betweeners and cheapies.
My two pairs of Asics running shoes are my most prized possessions because they have come such a long way with me and I treat them like friends, so they don’t get clobbered on muddy running trails and have never been in dog poo!
As I get older and more minimalistic about everything I buy, I am proud to say I don’t have a hundred pairs of shoes like some of my friends.
Instead, I treat the modest number of takkies I do have with TLC.
No wonder then that meeting Bandile Ntukantu, who calls himself a “sneakerhead”, was like finding a kindred spirit in the world.
Bandile was a tourism officer for the Bitou municipality, but his contract expired just when Covid-19 hit us in 2020.
Faced with adversity, this Plettenberg Bay entrepreneur had to survive so he racked his brains and came up with the concept of cleaning takkies — a recession-proof industry since there will always be shoes that need cleaning.
Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash was born and is now a thriving business he runs from his garage in the Plett township of Kwanokuthula.
Two years down the line, he cleans and restores at least 40 pairs of sneakers every week.
There are some serious A-listers that make it into his VIP workshop, like Christian Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and a designer label I hadn’t heard of — the Kanye West version of a takkie called Yeezy, he tells me.
He says that, to his surprise, his clientele comprises mature people who are earning good salaries, rather than the youngsters he had imagined.
Life works in strange ways, he says, as it would seem he was destined for this business.
“As a kid I sacrificed other things and saved so hard, just to have good sneakers, and then I started learning how to look after them and clean them so they lasted,” Bandile says.
This entailed watching YouTube videos, buying special cleaning brushes, cleaning materials and just generally mollycoddling his prized possessions — a passion that has turned into a profession.
Bandile knows his sneakers, each and every brand.
“Every shoe material determines the type of brush that should be used.
“You can’t use hard brushes on shoes with soft materials because you could ruin or even tear a client’s shoe,” he says.
“Most of the shoes I clean are expensive.
“My clients take pride in what they wear so it’s always important to use a suitable brush and the right cleaning agents for the best outcome.”
A friend has now joined him as the shoes coming in for cleaning are too much for one person to do.
These extra hands on board have allowed him to add the service of detailing and further customising shoes by painting them.
And the latest addition to his team is a schoolboy who can fetch and deliver the shoes for a small fee on top of the R50 cleaning service.
When Bandile started Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash, he had the help of his good friend, Ayabonga Rhafuza, who helped him convert his garage into a funky space with mural art and even a limited Skoli clothing range.
This all makes for a very cool backdrop for his popular social media posts, which up until now have been the only way he could afford advertising.
Lest customers worry that their beloved shoes are not safe in a township (he does get asked this question), he makes a point of saying he has taken extra security measures to make sure they are safe.
Two years later, the next step, Bandile says, is to be able to afford rent and move into the central town part of Plettenberg Bay.
“I already get so much business even in the township, so imagine if I had a place that was visible how many people would want their sneakers cleaned and made beautiful.”
He also dreams of a future for his business, which includes a strong digital presence, a place where he can partner with detergent or shoe-cleaning companies, so that he can include short video clips on how to look after shoes and clean them, a kind of platform for fellow sneakerheads, he says.
Bandile says we live in a sneaker-crazy world.
Just like jeans revolutionised the fashion world, so too are takkies taking the world by storm with versions to suit every occasion from smart to sporty to those suitable for the workplace.
He has a nugget of wisdom which he imparts to youngsters and those who have had to recalculate their routes since Covid.
“Follow your passion. Try and do with what you have, find a product or service in demand for the area in which you live.
“If you wait for capital, you will never start your business.”
And he should know, having found the perfect business niche for himself, since there will never be a shortage of dirty shoes.
Skoli and Plett Tekkie Wash and Bandile can be contacted on ilovesportqha@gmail.com
Phone him on 084-748-1315.
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