soccer fever seems to have hit Grahamstown in a big way. Not only are Grahamstonians showing their pride by every Friday by celebrating Football Friday jerseys and t-shirts, but their cars are getting the same treatment.
soccer fever seems to have hit Grahamstown in a big way. Not only are Grahamstonians showing their pride by every Friday by celebrating Football Friday jerseys and t-shirts, but their cars are getting the same treatment.
Thanks to Bruce Williams, a student from Rhodes University doing a Masters in Management, locals can get their hands on a mirror sock of the South African flag for their cars.
Mirror socks fit snugly on a car’s side mirrors. He explains that he got the idea when he was in Cape Town and Johannesburg and he saw people’s support showing on their cars.
“That’s when I knew I wanted to bring the ‘gees’ to Grahamstown.” So Williams bought stock in Johannesburg and brought it down to Grahamstown.
Of his purchase price, 10% went to SuperSport’s Let’s Play initiative, a corporate social responsibility project aimed at encouraging children to get involved in sports and outdoor activities.
Because of this, Williams has decided to also give some of the proceeds of his own sales to this health initiative.
The only problem that Williams feels is hindering him is the level of advertising for the product. “I have to get more ads up, and I’d also like to expand and maybe get flags for people to put on their car windows, perhaps even flags of other
countries,” he adds. Another Rhodes student, Marcel Liron, studying third year journalism, is also selling mirror socks to local supporters.
She got a pair for her car in March from her godfather whose company manufactures and distributes various World Cup memorabilia. “I saw it as a good way to make some extra cash on the side. I also saw this as a way to bring the World Cup fever to Grahamstown.
Just because we don’t have a stadium, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get involved and support the country.” Businesses have also jumped on board, stocking their shelves with World Cup goods ranging from pens to socks and even blankets.
Pick n Pay store manager Werner Pienaar is very pleased with how the product is selling. “We got some new stock in just yesterday because everything we had, had sold out.”
Some customers have even approached him, keen to buy one of the many flags which adorn the walls of the supermarket, which are only up for aesthetic purposes.
However, Pienaar has started taking down the contact details of customers wanting to purchase the flags so that he can order exact numbers in one big batch from the suppliers.
We see the countdown to kick-off everywhere we look, and as we inch closer to that auspicious day, make sure that you will be sufficiently kitted out when the world has its eyes on us.
