Cool Spaces: Always Welcome

PHOTOS Sarah de Pina WORDS Zanele Kumalo

At a new cooperative store in Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg, lovers of local design are most definitely Always Welcome.

It’s a design co-op,” says Always Welcome co-founder Garreth van Niekerk, “similar to how YDE [Young Designers Emporium] works.”

There are similarities — a drive to support local talent; a brand started as seismic societal shifts occur (YDE was launched the year after a democratic government was formed; Always Welcome opened during a global pandemic); and that the brick-and-mortar store lives in a mall.

But Garreth is talking mainly about the business model – a cooperative one, in which the designers featured in the store all contribute to the costs of running the space.

Doing so helps to mitigate the risk for everyone, and gives established and emerging makers greater access to new audiences and shoppers. The idea was born during the Covid-19 lockdown, as many businesses were closing and the unemployment rate soared. After a big decor magazine title closed its doors, Garreth was left wondering how designers were going to operate in this new landscape.

At the time of writing, 23 designers and makers were involved, including Dokter and Misses, Houtlander, Joe Paine, Mash.T, Okra Candle, Trevor Stuurman, TheUrbanative and Wiid Design. By the time this issue is on shelf, Always Welcome will have added brands such as Kirsten Goss, Abode and Monn – and launched an e-commerce site, too.

Across the way from the store’s welcome mat in Hyde Park Corner is Tashas, and its neighbour is Apsley House. In other words, Always Welcome couldn’t have asked for a better location. And walking into the showroom feels like stepping into a beautifully styled home that would sit comfortably in a magazine feature showcasing the best of South African design, room by room. Art-directed by Vincent Truter and designed by Stephen Klein (whose luxury portfolio includes 2A, Metropolitain Cosmetics and Spitz footwear), it took an intense six weeks from the time of the first partner meeting to figure out how all the pieces could work democratically in the space, knock down a few walls, and open the doors.

Currently a pop-up, Always Welcome plans to travel the country with its concept, inviting designers who correspond to the city they’ll settle in for a bit to activate unused shop fronts and perhaps unexpected environments. Garreth would love to make the Hyde Park Corner store an anchor, and says that the space has already helped to close the gap between the makers and the market.

Also planned for the future are in-store family lunches and meet-the-maker talks, as well as event collaborations with other retailers to, as Garreth puts it, really make design more approachable.