No Owino for you? Liar!

Mar 23, 2012

Yes, you do Owino! Do not sneer; we are on the money with this one. Okay maybe we have flushed you out, but must you really flex that much to keep it a secret?.

By Gilbert Kidimu
 
Yes, you do Owino! Do not sneer; we are on the money with this one. Okay maybe we have flushed you out, but must you really flex that much to keep it a secret? Well, just in case it consoles you, this piece here is not about to suggest you are broke, the reason you do Owino.
 
It is okay that we know what is working for you is your bargain-hunting downtown in Owino — never mind that it is called St. Balikuddembe Market, for us we like Owino, our old name. Anyway, you are not about to lose your classy attributes because you shop in Owino, don’t we all? 
 
Speaking of which, are you familiar with the term first-class Owino? It is not a particular section of the market, no. Rather, it is a particular class of apparel, footwear, bags, etc, the very best of the market’s stocks, bales of which are usually depleted very early in the morning even before 6:00am. 
 
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 Sleek business suits like this can go for sh150k(L)
Entertainers like Iryn Namubiru don’t have to go to Owino themselves(R)
 
And has it occurred to you that first-class Owino is what is currently dressing just about every amazing dresser in town, including the very stylish and well-healed of Kampala’s corporate? Not that they are going to say it to your face, hell no — they would like you to imagine they shop in Dubai, Malaysia and the like. 
 
See, behind the miasma of chaos in that hub of everything second-hand are amazing outfits imported mostly from the United Kingdom, the US and Asian markets. With these worlds way developed and having no dusty roads and harsh weather, some of their discarded outfit are just as good as new. And some smart traders here have mastered the art of snapping them immediately they reach the market from abroad, way before most of you even wake up. They improve them and sell at a premium. 
 
A number of them actually have a distinct sense of style. Forget the previous dealer in second-hand clothes that used to be some illiterate that got lucky to raise start-up capital. A number of today’s dealers have gone to school, some of whom graduates from university. So trust me they know what’s trending. Dude will be in the market by 5:00am, sorting only the best — it is mainly guys running this trade this way. At about 6:00am he is at a tailor’s improving the stuff, adding designer labels, disguising stained areas and torn bits with artistic patterns that will make it look like a design. 
 
By 7:00am he will be home, washing up the stuff with the best detergent to kill that smell that usually comes with it, spraying it a cool cologne and by midday, everything will be dry, ironed and ready for delivery. And you know to where? Either to a shop he operates at a classy Kampala Road building like Cham Towers, or to those big corporate companies, to sell big, so big that some of them have bought cars and are using their cars as mobile shops. And they sell only to such companies. 
 
You find the guy in the company’s parking lot, with the majority of those stylish corporate bargaining: “So how much am I paying for this Gucci shirt?” Oh really? If only you knew it’s just a label the smart trader added a few hours ago! Smart trader (who by the way also dresses well), without batting an eyelash, goes like: “Umm, since you are my regular customer, I will charge you only sh80k.” Corporate bargains, gets a sh10k discount and feels he’s got value for money. Smart trader smiles all the way to the bank, having got profits of about sh60k. Now that’s business, isn’t it? 
 
Well, you are too busy to go catch that shirt deep down Owino at 5:00am in the morning, or you don’t want the world to know you even go there, so why not pay through the nose from your parking lot and have a sharp look tomorrow at office? Makes sense, right? Now tell me you are going to wonder why this smart trader is driving a cooler ride than yours, is operating a big boutique in the upscale side of town, is out of debt?
 
His ride by the way is not on a loan, and he is not complaining. 
Not that you are badly off yourself, no. You have status, you sometimes appear in the Kampala Sun tabloid, people think you shop in Dubai and basically, you are also sorted somehow.   
 
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 The jacket, scarf, and pants can all be got at less than sh60k in Owino(L)
Joy Doreen Biira’s outfit above can be got cheaply in Owino(R)
 
That’s the world, anyway. Back to our issue, you do Owino. And sometimes you do it without knowing. Because this trader, whose shop you know is on the upscale side of Kampala, tells you he just got you a piece off his latest arrivals from Kuala Lumpar or Dubai. “This one here is the best for a CEO like you,” he flatters you.
 
And the other day he got you that pair of shoes you saw Ryan Reynolds wearing in the movie Safe House. Then when your girlfriend or your girly-girl colleague at work saw Kim Kardashian’s original Louis Vuitton and badly needed it, she was able to find it at his shop, cheaper than Kim K’s, but exactly the same. Now tell me you will dispute!
 
hat’s the allure of First Class Owino. You get stylish original stuff. Jeans, shirts, bags, tops, leggings, office skirts, neckties, boots, heels, it’s all in Owino, even lingerie - although I am against you buying lingerie in Owino.  
 
Of course not everyone is found at their workplace— some go down to Owino by themselves and in one-stop, especially if one went there in the morning, they get themselves all they need. But since the idea of scuffling in the hustle and bustle of Owino activity is sometimes intoxicating, many a dresser now go to shops and lock-ups owned by secondary traders who have already picked the stuff from Owino, improved it and displayed elsewhere around the city, like in Mutaasa Kafeero Plaza, Zainab Aziza and other malls. 
 
Much as these other traders do not have the clout to go to people’s air-conditioned offices, they are still making a killing dealing in second-hand stuff, a very lucrative businesses here. In fact, it’s so lucrative an online study estimated the proportion of all second-hand clothing purchases in Uganda at over 70% compared to new clothing.  
 
Now you can be sure that even renowned sharp dressers, the likes of Peter Ssematimba, Olara Otunnu, Edwin Musiime, Silver Kyagulanyi, Nasser Ssebaggala, Juliana Kanyomozi, Roger Mugisha, Janet Museveni, Mike Mukula, Uncle Mich and the like, just might have a cool portion of their wardrobe right from Owino. 
 
In fact, musicians, socialites and a number of our top businessmen, now all have their guy who goes down Owino and selects for them something they know suits them. 
 
Susan, a lady working with one of the banks in Kampala, frequently sends someone well-versed with the ways of Owino to go shopping for her husband, children and herself. Everything, she says, is delivered to her office, of course at a premium.
Peace Kirabo knows better. 
 
“I know every nook in Owino. My jeans, tops, office suits of my slim size, I get it all from O. Why go to a new clothes boutique, buy a top at 60k and then find another babe wearing the exact one she got at 8k in O? Almost everything in my closet is from O, and I look as amazing as the corporate girl in a Hollywood movie,” says Kirabo. 
 
We took a walk around. We found that a new good quality pair of jeans costs at least 200k, whereas a second-hand one the same quality ranges from sh30k and 50k, depending on your bargaining power. 
 
Owino, as it turns out, is the thing. Plus, who wants to wear uniform after high school? See, you find very many different sizes and colours of the same new stuff, a thing almost impossible in second-hand, the deal clients die for, who will go for it any day.  
 
Chris Mulumba, who sells men’s clothes, has learnt this by heart. He keeps a book of his clients’ contacts. 
“I go down Owino, do my shopping and value addition and when I get something one might like, I give them a call.
 
I have clients from all walks of life, even musicians, television and radio personalities,” Mulumba, who recently got himself a brand new Ipsum from the business, says. “I use this ride to ferry clothes from Owino to my shop and to people’s offices. Business is good, I am not complaining.” 
 
Why would he? Don’t we all just love Owino? I mean, the quality is amazing, the prices affordable and the designs to die for.
 

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