Adventure store do us proud

When Ken Lazarus, Brian Murphy and Kennith Barlow last year returned from Germany, full of praise for this chain of outdoor stores, Cape Union Mart Group CEO Philip Krawitz decided “anything they can do, we can do better” – and set about doing it, with the assistance of the Canal Walk mall management who added another row of stores big enough to accommodate the double-storey features needed for the Adventure Centre outside the mall. A two-storey high climbing wall, cold chamber, rain chamber and footwear station allows customers to test gear in the tough conditions they will have to withstand when worn - a thermal monitor in the icy chamber even tells you if your clothing is warm enough to maintain body temperature. A spider box, jelly fish tank, bug holograms and mini-climbing wall keep the kids entertained, while the entrance area will be used for talks by outdoor celebrities like Martin Dreyer, Everest climber John Black, and Braam Malherbe who ran the length of the Great Wall of China. But it is the spacious (2 200m²), shopper-friendly, well-signposted rugged store design that impresses most.