Your quick fix

Leave your trousers to be altered at Tidy Tucs Tailor, have your shoes repaired at Barksole, and drop your sneakers off at Dannie’s Shoe Shine & Sneaker Wash for the ultimate clean while doing your shopping. And Mammas Flowers will be ready with your bunch of Spring blooms when you head back out.

Dannie’s Shoe Shine & Sneaker Wash, located alongside Willoughby’s, has been a V&A Waterfront institution for more than 15 years. The ever-dapper Dannie gets your treads looking like new in no time – either as you relax on his elegant armchair, or while doing your shopping, with a drop-and-collect option. He’s an expert in leather and suede, treating these shoes with the respect and care they warrant, and his knack with sneakers makes them appear to have just come out of the box. “When I’m interacting with my customers at the Waterfront,” says Dannie, “I forget all my problems, because it’s just smiles and motivation all day long.” Prices range from R40 for slip-slops, to R120 for extra-long boots.

Open 9am-5pm.

Tidy Tucs Tailor has been around the block with us. The professional tailor shop, owned by Awais Arshad, started off in the previous Red Shed, servicing mainly the tourist market, before relocating to the space now occupied by the lower level of Woolworths. “Now, in our spot under Clicks,” says Awais, “even more people are getting to know about our services.” This includes making suits and formal dresses, although Tidy Tucs Tailor is highly sought-after for its expertise in alterations, even doing such clothing adjustments for stores such as G-Star RAW, Diesel and Replay. “We can do so many different alterations,” Awais explains. “For example, on a pair of jeans, we can taper the legs, waistband or hips, shorten the legs or replace zips, while for dresses we could deepen necklines or take in arms. It’s my passion – it makes me happy to make people look good!”

Open during V&A Waterfront trading hours.

Mammas Flowers has been part of our Waterfront family since we opened, making it four generations strong! Fourth-generation team member Ameeda Naidoo says that the convenience of being at Entrance 9, adjacent to the underground parking, means people don’t have to walk very far to get a beautiful bouquet (the proteas here are exquisite!). “You can pick and choose your combination of flowers, or tell us your budget or colour preferences and we can make up an arrangement while you do your shopping,” she says. Mammas Flowers also creates arrangements for events, weddings and funerals. “We even do office and home deliveries, within 24 hours of receiving your order,” Ameeda says of the Cape Town service. Besides the lilies and orchids found throughout the year, this Spring you can add freesias, ranunculus, snap dragons and poppies to your bunch of blooms.

Open during V&A Waterfront trading hours.

Barksole has also been with us from the start, growing year by year. Says partner Rod Bloom, “In the beginning, we cut a few keys, but now Barksole is so much more than even just shoe repairs. We can fix anything that you can get a needle into!” This includes sports equipment, trampolines, luggage, jumping castles, camping gear and more – anything from vinyl to leather. “Repairing rather than replacing saves a lot of money,” says Rod, insisting that there are very few things his skilled artisans are incapable of sewing back to new. “And if the job is too big for our Waterfront store,” he says, “we send it to our repair clinic in Woodstock, where we have people who have been working with us for 40 years.” It’s not only repairs one is guaranteed of – Barksole still offers key-cutting, and also has an engraving and dry-cleaning service, and so much more!

Open during V&A Waterfront trading hours.