Poetry Stores
Poetry Stores is a South African lifestyle retailer selling women's clothing, footwear, accessories, bath and body products, homeware, and gift cards to women consumers via its poetrystores.co.za e-commerce platform, operating as a brand within the Cape Union Mart Group.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Poetry Stores does
Poetry Stores (trading as Poetry) is a South African lifestyle retailer operating primarily as an e-commerce storefront at poetrystores.co.za. The company sells women's clothing, footwear, and accessories, and has extended its assortment into bath and body products, homeware, and gift cards. Its primary customer segment is women consumers in South Africa purchasing for daily wear, professional attire, and special occasions. The company is headquartered in Cape Town and employs 11–50 people. Founded by Silvi Alcivar (Founder, Owner, and Artist), Poetry operates as a brand within the Cape Union Mart Group, alongside sister brands Cape Union Mart, Old Khaki, and K-WAY, which implies shared group-level retail infrastructure, logistics, and distribution benefits.
The business model is standard direct-to-consumer fashion and lifestyle retail: the company sells proprietary-curated branded and private-label merchandise through its own online channel to individual consumers, with no disclosed B2B or wholesale motion. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and the storefront supports a broad set of payment methods including major card networks (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), PayPal, Discovery Miles, and several buy-now-pay-later and credit options (Payflex, PayJustNow, Mobicred, Float, RCS) — a configuration tailored to credit-constrained South African retail demand. No technology platform details, proprietary technology stack, integrations, mobile applications, or APIs are disclosed in the source data.
Poetry is a privately held, non-listed company with no disclosed funding rounds, investors, revenue figures, or financial history. There are no disclosed M&A activity, leadership changes, regulatory actions, certifications, patents, or trademarks in the available material. Its competitive position rests primarily on its brand identity, lifestyle positioning in the women's segment, and its association with the broader Cape Union Mart Group portfolio.
Poetry Stores firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Poetry Stores
- Legal name
- Poetry
- Website
- https://poetrystores.co.za
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Poetry Stores is a South African lifestyle retailer selling women's clothing, footwear, accessories, bath and body products, homeware, and gift cards to women consumers via its poetrystores.co.za e-commerce platform, operating as a brand within the Cape Union Mart Group.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Poetry Stores industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Women's Fashion Retail
- NAICS
- Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers (458), Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (458110), Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers (45811), Shoe Retailers (45821), Shoe Retailers (4582), Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Retailers (456120)
- SIC
- Retail-Women's Clothing Stores (5621), Retail-Shoe Stores (5661), Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fashion & Accessories Marketplaces (CRAFABAA)
Keywords
Where Poetry Stores is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Markets served
Poetry Stores business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
Distribution channels1 record
Poetry Stores product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Poetry Stores is a South African lifestyle and fashion retailer that sells women's clothing, footwear, and accessories alongside bath and body products, homeware, and gift cards. The company sells directly to consumers through its e-commerce storefront at poetrystores.co.za and operates as part of the Cape Union Mart Group of lifestyle brands.
Product overview
Poetry Stores is a South African fashion retail company specializing in women's clothing, footwear, and accessories. The company operates as an e-commerce platform selling these products directly to consumers through its website poetrystores.co.za. It is part of the Cape Union Mart retail group.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Women's Clothing
- Women's Footwear
- Women's Accessories
- Bath and Body Products
- Homeware
- Gift Cards
Companies that use Poetry Stores
Customer profileSegments1 record
Poetry Stores technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Poetry Stores partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Cape Union Martcore
- Old Khakiminor
- K-WAYminor
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Poetry Stores competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Superbalist: South Africa-focused online fashion and lifestyle marketplace selling apparel, footwear and accessories to women. Closest comparable to Poetry by geography, channel (e-commerce-led) and category mix.
- Zando: Leading South African online fashion retailer offering women's and men's clothing, footwear and accessories. Directly comparable DTC fashion peer operating in the same market and category.
- Spree: South African e-commerce platform for fashion, footwear, and accessories with a strong women's category offering. Comparable as a competing online-only women's-focused fashion destination in ZA.
Broad incumbents
- Foschini (TFS Holdings): Major South African apparel, footwear and accessories retailer (including @home, Totalsports and Exact). Comparable as a multi-brand women's fashion retailer serving the same South African consumer with broader scale and physical + online presence.
- Mr Price: Large South African value-focused fashion and lifestyle retailer with apparel, footwear and homeware. Comparable on category breadth (clothing, footwear, accessories, homeware) and South African consumer base, but at much larger scale.
- Woolworths South Africa (Fashion): South African department-store retailer with a sizeable women's fashion, footwear, accessories and beauty offering. Comparable on multi-category lifestyle positioning targeting South African women.
- Cotton On South Africa: Global fast-fashion retailer with a meaningful South African footprint focused on women's apparel, accessories and lifestyle goods. Comparable as a women's fashion and lifestyle brand competing in the same ZA market.
- H&M South Africa: Global fast-fashion retailer operating stores and online in South Africa with women's apparel, footwear and accessories. Comparable women's-focused fashion competitor expanding share in Poetry's market.
- Edgars (Edcon): Historic South African apparel and lifestyle department store chain. Comparable on women's apparel, footwear, accessories and homeware assortment serving the same South African consumer base.
Others
- Old Khaki: Sister brand of Poetry within the Cape Union Mart Group offering apparel and lifestyle products. Comparable as a group-mate sharing parent infrastructure and South African e-commerce footprint.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Poetry Stores social profiles
Digital presencePoetry Stores financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Poetry Stores leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Poetry Stores funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Poetry Stores M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Poetry Stores
What does Poetry Stores do?
Poetry Stores is a South African lifestyle and fashion retailer that sells women's clothing, footwear, and accessories alongside bath and body products, homeware, and gift cards. The company sells directly to consumers through its e-commerce storefront at poetrystores.co.za and operates as part of the Cape Union Mart Group of lifestyle brands.
Is Poetry Stores a public or private company?
Poetry Stores is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Poetry Stores founded?
Poetry Stores was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Poetry Stores based?
Poetry Stores is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
Who are Poetry Stores's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Superbalist, Zando and Spree. Broad incumbents are Foschini (TFS Holdings), Mr Price, Woolworths South Africa (Fashion), Cotton On South Africa, H&M South Africa and Edgars (Edcon). Old Khaki is listed as an others.
Does Poetry Stores have an API?
No public API is recorded for Poetry Stores.
What industry is Poetry Stores in?
Poetry Stores's product category is Women's Fashion Retail. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFABAA, Fashion & Accessories Marketplaces. Its NAICS code is 458 and its SIC code is 5621.