The Velvet Cake Company bakes luscious special occasion cakes to order and sells cupcakes and cakes by the slice to enjoy with coffee or takeaway. Following the success of her first shop in Durbanville, owner Jandri van Zyl tells us about opening her second store in Cape Town’s Loop Street.
How did your business start?
After qualifying as a pastry chef, I had the opportunity to open a small coffee shop in Hertex Fabrics showroom, doing all our own baking. The coffee shop, Treat Patisserie, eventually grew into a 50-seater and soon I needed a bigger kitchen, so I rented the space opposite for baking the cakes and that became The Velvet Cake Company. After running both businesses for a while, I left Treat to focus on the special cake-baking niche and decided to open a second Velvet Cake Company shop in central Cape Town.
Why did you choose this area for your business?
I started looking in Kloof Street and Bree Street, and ended up here. This was the perfect size and had a nice New York feel to it. It felt more vibrant, very urban Cape Town.
How did you find your premises?
I contacted Swindon Property Group and an agent showed me around. I looked at about four places and it took less than a month to find this spot.
Why are the premises ideally suited to your business?
They are just the right size and also have a collection point for customers to fetch larger orders. It’s a cute heritage building from the outside, with a pinkish colour, which fit the look I wanted.
Who are your neighbours?
Giulio’s Italian cafe, a nice hairdresser (which is awesome as they come here to get cake and chat), then a new Jason’s Bakery across the road and The Village Idiot.
What are the rental/sales prices like in this area?
The rent is better than in Bree and Kloof streets, for now at least.
What is your shop footprint?
There’s a lot of foot traffic passing and we easily see 2,000 people a month.
Do you have any expansion plans?
We’ve got the two stores now, and we’re looking into expanding online and adding in a delivery service. Once the new store is fully established, we’ll be looking for another store in one of the Winelands towns, as we’ve got a lot of customers there too.
Do you operate online as well?
We have a very nice online store that you can order and purchase through, but I’d like to create 
something even better.
What’s your most popular item?
Our rainbow cake is one of our most popular cakes. The milktart cupcakes are also really unique – a traditional milk tart and cinnamon cupcake in one.
021 286 1082
Words: Kit Heathcock | Images: Supplied
