Shops / News
Southern African shop celebrates two decades of helping people ‘find a community’
Fresh biltong in multiple flavours hung near the till, as owner Rose Watkins beamed with pride on her shop’s 20th birthday.
Kalahari Moon opened as a southern African community shop a few steps away from where it is today in St Nick’s in July 2005.
Twenty years later, Rose still believes that people walk hoping to “find a community” – a vision that she has seen come to life in the past two decades.
is needed now More than ever
“I think when you move, it’s really important to have a community or find a community. This is partly what Kalahari Moon was about: about me finding a community.”
Biltong, an air-dried and cured meat traditional to South Africa, is one of Kalahari Moon’s most-loved products
From traditional flours, jams, preserves and meats to gifting items, clothing and books – this shop spanning two stalls of the covered market in St Nick’s is like a little slice of southern Africa here in Bristol.
Nadia Burgoyne, who has been working at the shop for a few years now, added: “We get a lot of southern Africans here – people from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and even from Zambia.”
The shop started with Rose’s desire to connect with Bristol’s South African community when she moved here in 2004. Soon, people started coming in and asking for specific goods, with the shop eventually stocking what Nadia believes is the “biggest variety of South African products in Bristol or the UK”.
She added: “Even people from London and Scotland have come down and said we’ve never seen so many goods and different products.”
Nadia (left) and Rose (right) are the powerhouse duo who run Kalahari Moon on a daily basis
Rose believes that the community aspect of the shop makes visits to Kalahari Moon an “emotional” experience for certain customers.
“I’ve been sending invitations for the 20th birthday to a lot of people, and everyone’s saying, they can’t believe all this time has gone,” she said.
“People are coming in now, they might have come in as single people in the beginning and they’re now coming with their families.
“Their children are growing up, some are now 18. It’s wonderful and very heart-warming.”
Rose recalls moving everything from their first shop to their current home in St Nick’s within a single day, with many customers helping her make the move.
For her, the market “epitomises Bristol” through its diverse nature.
She added: “I came to St Nick’s because I love the market. It is like its own community, its own family.
“It epitomises Bristol because of its independent thinkers. It’s very quirky, very creative, very buzzy – lots of wonderful stuff going on here in the market.
“And Bristol too, is a lot like that.”
Rose’s little shop, crammed with goods in every corner, strives to make southern Africans feel closer to home while living here in Bristol.
Kalahari Moon takes up two spots in St Nick’s Market
All photos: Rob Browne
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