Retail Curation
Helping independent shops, makers, and vendors find their place in the street-level economy.
A long-running programme reshaping the streets, squares, and public spaces of Cape Town's inner city.
About Retail Curation
A retail curation programme working to bring character and vibrancy back to the street-level economy: matching independent shops, makers, and street vendors with underused ground-floor space, and redefining what the inner city's trading structures can be.
The proving ground is the Kiosk of Curiosities on St George's Mall. We sub-leased a prominent vacant kiosk at Kratoa Place, refurbished and repainted it, and turned it into an interactive public art piece with implementation partner Thingking: four commissioned artists built Inner City-themed dioramas behind viewing ports, each lighting up at the press of a button. A neglected trading structure became a moment of discovery on one of the city's oldest pedestrian streets, and every button press is counted as engagement.
“Each intervention is designed to invite people to linger — not just pass through.”
Building on the kiosk model with a defined programming strategy, and matching more independent traders and makers with vacant street-level space across the inner city.
