On the 14th of June 2023 Lekau Sehoana, Founder and Group Chairman of the DRIP GROUP uploaded a statement across all his social media platforms that reads: Johannesburg, South Africa – 30 July 2022, South Africa was introduced to a local baby and children’s clothing shop, named Kiddies Republic. Its inception was aimed at introducing a new value-for-money children’s clothing retailer that is affordable yet trendy for a specific target audience. The first Kiddies Republic store was opened on 30 July 2022, at Mall of the North in Polokwane, Limpopo with the plans to open more stores in the nearer future.
It’s unfortunate to hear about the closure of a business, especially one that aimed to provide affordable and trendy clothing for children.
“In any business, an owner takes a risk by opening with the hopes of the business becoming successful. This was sadly not the case. Kiddies Republic was not financially viable thus the difficult and unfortunate decision to close our doors and undergo liquidation process,” said Lekau in the statement.
It was also made clear in the statement that Kiddies Republic is a separate entity from other entities owned by the CEO of DRIP Footwear, Lekau Sehoana.
DJ Sbu took to twitter to encourage fellow entrepreneur and friend:
@NcedoMaseko tweeted:
“And it’s more saddening when these cowards are your own people. Black people are the first to celebrate another black person’s misfortunes…But on the Flip side, brother has tasted success and I see no reason why he can’t conquer again. Stronger this time.”
@TheOriginalKhutso wrote:
“Learning curve, Lekau knows better now.”
@Qoqodala added:
“This is one of the unfortunate things in business.”
Main Image: The South African