Being a woman comes at a price and although I do not particularly like venturing into the usually busy Tongaat central, I do look forward to my monthly shopping sprees where I sniff out excellent deals on clothing and accessories at affordable prices.

I buy most of my shoes, casual clothing, formal wear and gym gear from the stores in Tongaat and I save an absolute fortune!

Here are some of my favorites:

Clothing Junction

Clothing Junction sales assistant Doreen Dlamini is always ready to give you an honest opinion on what looks good and what does not.

Everyone has their very own one-stop-shop, and this is mine. I try to limit my visits to once a month but I am often tempted to pop in when I see the oh so gorgeous dresses that they advertise outside.

The fact that they are almost always having a sale does not really help my cause either.

I used to think that affordable clothing looked cheap – but that is not the case at Clothing Junction and I never fail to find something I love.

They have a wide range of stock that includes shoes, jeans, casual t-shirts, formal wear, dresses and active wear at great prices and they usually keep up with fashion trends while still catering for the casual, understated tastes.

Just last month, I managed to get myself two dresses, three tops, two yoga pants, a set of pajamas and three pairs of socks for a little under R500.

Due to the constant stock intake, they have regular clearance sales with half prices on most of their products.

Address: Watson Highway: near Standard Bank, next to the Jet store.

Parking: Right outside.

Shortys

The friendly staff at Shortys, Asheer Ghunshan, Anneline Gounden, Ashen Dhruplal, Sinazo Mkhahlela, Raven Moonsamy, Ajay Rajkaran and Vishan Pather.

Fairly new to Tongaat, Shortys has only been open for about three weeks and their clothing and prices are rather impressive.

They have a number of sales assistants at the store and they are super friendly, funny and so helpful.

I like the fact that you feel right at home as soon as you walk in. In between many jokes,  the manager, Asheer Ghunshan said that they are currently having a sale with some of their items marked down by 25 and 50 per cent.

“Some of the underwear is selling for R4,” he said, and he was not even joking.

They have isles of good, fashionable clothing that reminded me of the kind that you find at the big retail outlets, except this does not break the bank.

What is great is that they cater for all age groups and have the cutest outfits for toddlers.

Address: On Gopallal Hurbans Road (Main Road, R102), a little further down from Checkout.

Parking: Right outside.

Blessed

Blessed sales assistant Anton Siad showing off their cool jeans.

My mom introduced me to this store after she was impressed by the service and the cute jackets.

Also on the main road, directly opposite the Shoprite Centre, the store which stocks all sorts of clothing, is most popular for their jeans and jeggings.

The friendly owner Binyam Tizazu always has a positive attiyude and is more than willing to assist without being too pushy.

With me being short, I often struggle to find my size jeans unless I shop at places like Identity and Edgars, which is usually a tad expensive.

I love that at Blessed, the sizes cater for the big, small, short and tall people of the world and if they do not have your size, Binyam is more than happy to order it for you.

Jeans range from R120 to R150, but everything at the store is pretty affordable.

Address: On Gopallal Hurbans Road (Main Road/ R102), directly opposite the Shoprite Centre.

Parking: Right outside.

Classic Fashion and MK Pan Gift Shop

Sales assistant Shamila Govender.

Owned by the same people, these Chinese shops are located next to each other just below the Shoprite center and have been operating since the year 2000.

When I was still in school, one of my favorite past times was going there to buy cool accessories and clothing that I knew no one else had.

MK Pan Gift Shop has basically everything from phone covers, handbags, toys, luggage and even floor mats while the Classic Fashion store next door stocks jackets, shoes, and dresses and even crop tops (if that’s your thing) at fairly cheap prices.

The sales assistant at MK Pan Gift Shop, Shamila Govender is friendly and well known to customers.

According to her, all their products are imported from China and their accessories and make-up are extremely popular.

The only downfall at the clothing store is that the service needs a bit of touching up. It is difficult to get proper assistance without a hint of attitude from the sales assistant.

Address: On Gopallal Hurbans Road (Main Road/ R102), just below the Shoprite center.

Parking: At the Shoprite centre.

Grumpys Clothing Factory Shop

A selection of ladies items at Grumpys.

While Grumpys is popular for their formal wear, they also stock a lot of casual items.

I often shop there for work clothing and I like that the shop is neat and well priced.

They have everything from blouses to formal pants, skirts, dresses, t-shirts, jeans and foot wear.

Source:-northcoastcourier