OUR HERITAGE
I Fevrier 1898: ‘Regu de la Nationale Bank der ZAR Beperkt’, records the first entry in a cashbook and the date on which the firm A Savelkoul & Co, Outfitters, Tailors, Direct Importers & High Class Clothiers, opened on the southeast corner of Market and Pretorius streets, Pretoria.
In 1896 Antoine Savelkoul came to Pretoria to open a branch of his brother’s business, H Savelkoul in Antwerp. In order to accommodate the new enterprise a double-storey, Victorian-style building was erected in 1897 providing space upstairs for tailoring workshops as well as offices. Items of ready-for-wear clothing were made by Savelkoul in Belgium and supplied to the Pretoria branch.
The sale of men’s suits, jackets, trousers. overcoats, frock coats, tails and even bathing costumes, was meticulously recorded in French in immaculate ‘copper-plate’ hand script. The most expensive ‘off-the-shelf’ suit sold for six pounds and six shillings. An entry in the minutes records the following:
The sale of men’s suits, jackets, trousers. overcoats, frock coats, tails and even bathing costumes, was meticulously recorded in French in immaculate ‘copper-plate’ hand script. The most expensive ‘off-the-shelf’ suit sold for six pounds and six shillings. An entry in the minutes records the following:
“We verkochten toen maar 4 tot 5 pakken per week, maar ik mag zeggen dat we daar wel een beetje geluk mee hadden. De pakken werden toen ₤4.10.1, ₤5.5.0 en het duurste pak was ₤6.6.0.”
During the Anglo Boer War trading continued under difficult circumstances.
During the Anglo Boer War trading continued under difficult circumstances.
In 1906, Pierre Joseph Beumont, one of H Savelkouls’ managers, was recalled from the Liverpool branch and sent to Pretoria with instructions to revive the business. Beumont spent two years in Pretoria. In 1910 Beumont was again ordered to Pretoria, this time replacing Antoine Savelkoul, and in the process acquiring a larger shareholding in the organisation. His younger brother, Jacques, who was employed by H Savelkoul in Antwerp, was transferred to Pretoria to assist.
Pierre Joseph decided to venture into bespoke (tailored to a person’s style and taste) tailoring and recruited Frans Dieltjes from Belgium to do the tailoring and alterations. Initially this undertaking was not without its problems and Jacques describes how he started in the bespoke department when outsourcing of tailoring was not of the required standard:
“Bij ons aankomen te Pretoria vernam ik dat mijn broer (Pierre Joseph) begonnen was met pakken op maat te verkoopen. Hij had zich een boek aangeschaft die hem les gaf om verschillende patronen te maken en ik kan zeggen dat hij daar in korte tijd success mee had. Ik had ook al wel in Leuven zelf de beginselen in de snijerij gehad maar dit wel in confectie. Hy had overgin voor mijn terugkomst een snijer uit de buurt, een Scotsman, die zelf een winkel had, maar die arme kerel kreeg om zo te zeggen al zijn pakken terug. Ik zou dan de snijerij beginnen.”
“Bij ons aankomen te Pretoria vernam ik dat mijn broer (Pierre Joseph) begonnen was met pakken op maat te verkoopen. Hij had zich een boek aangeschaft die hem les gaf om verschillende patronen te maken en ik kan zeggen dat hij daar in korte tijd success mee had. Ik had ook al wel in Leuven zelf de beginselen in de snijerij gehad maar dit wel in confectie. Hy had overgin voor mijn terugkomst een snijer uit de buurt, een Scotsman, die zelf een winkel had, maar die arme kerel kreeg om zo te zeggen al zijn pakken terug. Ik zou dan de snijerij beginnen.”
In 1913 Pierre Joseph – affectionately called Mr PJ – acquired H Savelkoul’s share in the Pretoria business. Prior to doing so, however, he travelled to Elizabethville in the Belgian Congo to open the Katanga Handelsmaatschappij – specialising in the sale of tropical wear. Jacques was appointed manager until the outbreak of World War I when this business was closed and he returned to Europe.
The original Savelkouls building was demolished in 1951 and a new building was then constructed on the same site. The business’s trademark logo, a horse head, was introduced at the opening of the new store in fond remembrance of “Blackie”, the horse that pulled the delivery cart in the early days.
Pierre Joseph Beumont died in in 1967 at the age of 87 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard, who had been groomed in England and Belgium as a successor in the business.
Pierre Joseph Beumont died in in 1967 at the age of 87 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard, who had been groomed in England and Belgium as a successor in the business.
Admitted to the Pretoria Chamber of Commerce in 1902, Savelkouls still trades on the original site on the corner of Pretorius and Paul Kruger Streets, and has added a branch in the popular Brooklyn Mall, situated in the east of Pretoria. The business is now third generation family-owned and managed and continues to offer the superior quality menswear and service for which it is reputed.