Page 107 - KBHA BULLETIN 3
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our time were extremely nice people and, speaking for my sisters and myself, they most
certainly had an important influence on our childhood and teenage years. St. James will
always have a very special place in our memories and we were extremely fortunate to be
associated with it and the residents.
Conclusion
John Alexander Rudolphe passed on in July 1976. Winnifred Mary passed on in January
1982. The shops were sold in 1977 and, after being run for some time as a general dealer, the
space formerly occupied by three shops is now a single business operating successfully as
Trattoria Sabbatini.
ooOoo
Conclusion
The demise of conventional retailing in Kalk Bay - St. James is attributable to the limited
scale of local demand (approximately 2,000 residents in Kalk Bay - St. James), the decline of
the local hotel industry, increasing car ownership and therefore shopping mobility among
residents, and competition from the substantial shopping strip along Fish Hoek Main Road,
just a short two – three kilometres away.
Today’s shopping strip looks outwardly much as it has for the better part of this century but
the nature of the retailing is entirely different. The once well-established neighbourhood
shopping strip that offered a diverse array of convenience and low order speciality goods,
from virtually a needle to an anchor, has turned around from the slump of the 60s and 70s and
is now a lively place of restaurants and speciality shops catering mainly for a non-local
clientele.

