Puma opens Jo'burg street store

Cool sports and fashion brand Puma recently launched its first high-street store in Johannesburg's trendy Braamfontein district.

Puma South Africa celebrated the opening of its new street-located store with an exclusive event on 25 August. Situated on the corner of De Korte and Melle streets in the inner city, the high-street store plans to add to the buzz and revival of the Braamfontein area. And as home to students and hipsters, the new location is seen as the perfect fit for the Puma brand.

The corner of the street outside the store was specially cordoned off so guests could peruse the store with its new "retail 2.0 store design" at leisure and enjoy a drink and steet-style party under the stars. The new Puma store design, which was launched internationally in early 2011 in Berlin, sees the Braamfontein branch equipped with additional store elements such as a Puma social area, DJ mixing station and a peep show to surprise shoppers in the change-rooms.

And to give it a distinctive local twist the store has been decorated to pay homage to Johannesburg’s rich mining history. Shoppers will notice the references to mining in the form of a dominant brand wall made of mining helmets, footwear housing elements made to look like mining elevators, a DJ box with speakers housed in wheelbarrows and iconic Puma cat statues sprayed in gold and strategically placed around the store.

This theme of mining permeated the street party in the way of wheelborrows holding beers on ice, drinks served in old-school metal cups and chocolate bars wrapped to look like gold bars. A magician entertained guests with his sleight of hand and balloon formations, while a photo booth was available for capturing the guests. The gourmet hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches were provided by local tenants Great Dane, Kitchener's Carvery Bar and Post respectively.

After enjoying an opening-night discount of 45% on all merchandise, in-store media and VIP guests partied to the sounds of Puma ambassador DJ Matt Stuttner, DJ Keyes and DJ Fixx. Local residents joined the party as they danced by and peered out their windows. The night concluded with a live peformance by lyric-master Tumi Molekane and Peach van Pletzen of Yesterday's Pupil. 

Watch our video for more about the store.

The Puma Store Braamfontein is located on the corner of De Korte and Melle streets and is open Monday to Saturday 9am-5pm and Sunday 9am-1pm.