Some shops sell products. Others sell the feeling of being looked after. Ouma se Winkel manages both, and people travel a long way for it.
The pies that travel
Ouma se Winkel makes 90% of everything on its shelves itself. The “pasteie” are what people talk about: around 1,000 of them leave the shop in just three or four days. Customers don’t drop in for these on the way to somewhere else. They come from far away on purpose, and they leave with more than they planned.
A shop with a story
It started life as Ouma se Spens. In 2003 Mattheus and Brenda Heyns took it over, and over the years, as Mattheus puts it, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. The name changed to Ouma se Winkel, but the thinking behind it stayed the same.
Brenda wasn’t in it to make a fortune. She wanted to say yes to every customer’s request and would go to great lengths to make it happen. Even when she was ill, she kept contributing from home and came up with some of the shop’s most inventive treats. She trained the staff so thoroughly that the shop kept its standard after she passed away in November 2013, and it is still going strong.
In 2012 Stuart van der Watt bought a 50% share. Together with Mattheus, he has one goal: to keep the high standard Brenda set and make every customer feel special.
And what about Oupa?
Look closely at the sign on the door and you’ll see it reads “Ouma en Oupa se Winkel”. There’s a reason for that. Customers kept asking: “What about Grandpa?” So Oupa got his name on the door. The business itself, as Stuart will tell you, has always been Ouma’s, but nobody wanted Grandpa to feel left out.
Why it works
Mattheus and Stuart put it plainly: without customers, Ouma se Winkel has no reason to exist. That attitude shows in the pastry and in the way you’re greeted at the door.
Ouma (en Oupa) se Winkel, Okovango Park, Brackenfell. website: oumasewinkel.co.za
Editor’s Note: I have firsthand experience with those “pasteie”. If you don’t take a steak pie, your life will be empty. It’s really that good!
