KARIEGA-based business owner Debrah Coeries is sharing her love of thrifting and music with her home town this heritage day with a popup market taking place at Agape Coffee shop.
The singer and owner of the online thrift store “Fromdebs” got into thrifting three years ago and started her own business earlier this year.
“I first got into thrifting about three years ago when I came across Instagram accounts of people starting up their own thrift stores online. This was also the first time I learnt about the idea and thought it was so cool,” she said reminiscing about her favourite thrift find to date, a denim jacket from a thrifting business in Gqeberha.
“I decided to start my own thrift/secondhand clothing store near the end of last year, 2022. At first, it (Instagram page) didn’t get a lot of interaction and I was quite disappointed. I ended up taking a break from posting, but little did I know that only a few months later things would pick up. Given that the thrifting industry isn’t big in Kariega, I realized that my store was one of the few available in our town. This meant that I would need to be consistent and work harder to put my business out there for people to find,” she said.
Her pop-up market idea comes after encouragement from the owner of Agape Coffee Shop, who offered to use their venue for a heritage day-themed event.
“I was so shocked, but simultaneously very encouraged to try it out! Through consideration and planning, I decided to use this opportunity to the best of my ability and decided to open it up to the public. Being a musician, I understand the difficulty of finding a job after completing your studies as well as a gig in a small town. I thought this was the perfect place for fellow artists and musicians to showcase their talent, as well as for small business owners in Uitenhage to gain recognition and exposure,” she said.
With the help of a close friend, Kamvelihle Gunu, Coeries has been able to set up an event featuring local food/snack businesses and several talented instrumentalists and vocalists.
“We hope this event will spark an interest in local, small businesses within our community,” she said.
The event is free entry and will take place from 11am to 4pm.
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