Puma store opens in Braamfontein

"The company is very excited to open its first store in the Johannesburg area," said Puma South Africa's marketing director Brett Bellinger. "We have carefully selected Braamfontein for this venture as we believe the mix of students and hipsters perfectly fits the offering that we have at the store."

The group's new Retail 2.0 store design was launched in early 2011 in Berlin, with the new system now being rolled out in all major global markets. The Canal Walk store in Cape Town was the first store in Africa to undergo this latest facelift.

The store in Braamfontein has the new store design, with additional store elements such as a social area and DJ mixing station, a peep show to surprise shoppers in the change-rooms, and an unSMARTphone.

The company has also acknowledged Johannesburg's rich mining history into the store design by introducing some references to mining, including a dominant brand wall made up of mining helmets; footwear housing elements made to look like mining elevators; and finally the iconic cat statues, that wait on guard at the store entrance, have been sprayed gold.

"We know that the consumers that the Braamfontein area attracts love the brand. SouthPoint and Adam Levy of Play Braamfontein have curated a mix of consumers and tenants in the area, which happens to suit the brand perfectly.

"Our aim with this store is to provide more streetwear-oriented product with limited releases and must-haves forming an important part of the offering in the store. We look forward to welcoming all our friends through our Braamfontein doors," added Bellinger.