FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS 44 YEARS AGO

NEMIC APPLIANCES – WOODSTOCK

Neville Rossouw, fresh out of his apprenticeship at Fuchsware, founded Nemic Appliances in Woodstock, Cape Town, in 1979. He was later joined by Vanessa, his wife, in the admin department, and together built up one of the leading appliance service centres in Cape Town. The name was changed to Appliance Mart in the 90s, when the business became the service agent for Whirlpool South Africa and MasterCare.

SECOND-HAND APPLIANCE MART

Jamie Rossouw, Neville’s son, joined the business in 2006 and learned his way around refrigeration and general technician work on various appliances under the guidance of Neville. Jamie became interested in the sales and trading side of the business and founded Second Hand Appliance Mart in 2007, where he purchased, repaired and then sold second-hand appliances.

Later that year, Jamie signed an agreement with Whirlpool SA, allowing the purchase of all scratch and dent appliances from them. This side of the business grew exponentially and, after lengthy discussions, he moved the business to Montague Gardens and rebranded it as Cape Town Appliances in 2008. In 2010, Lee-Anne, Jamie’s sister, joined the company to assist in the administration department.

CAPE TOWN APPLIANCES, MONTAGUE GARDENS

In 2011, Neville and Vanessa joined forces with Jamie and Lee-Anne in Montague Gardens to head up the service department, making Cape Town Appliances a fully family-operated business, until 2022, when Neville sadly passed away.