A FULL page picture of Thiam Miadcke in a newly published book has his many devoted customers excited.
Affectionately known as “Chiam”, he is universally popular. He has benchmarked Bedford customer relations in his friendly general store on the main thoroughfare. He was modestly gratified when our reporter showed him the book with his picture and the story of his business.
The book is “Moving to the Platteland, Life in Small Town South Africa” by Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais. Miadcke’s story is one of many examples of how to thrive in a small town.
Chiam’s is the go-to store for Bedford residents from all sections of the community. Like an old-fashioned country dealer, he stocks more than you can imagine – nail polish, paraffin lamps, bicycle tyres, sim cards, electricity, lots of clothes and shoes, kitchenware…
“Just ask, they’ve probably got it,” said one regular customer from the retirement village.
Chiam also offers a free advice and support service for cellular and small electronic gizmos.
“Patience,” was Miadcke’s simple answer when Mid-Karoo Express asked him the secrets of his success. He is unfailingly patient and courteous to his customers – be they elderly, very young or very rambunctious. His staff has learned to be the same. “You need to be patient with your colleagues, too.”
“If someone goes a bit off track, I call them aside and try to encourage and motivate them. You get the best out of people that way. We are all here together all day so it is good if we all get on and stand together.”
Patience and good faith have seen Miadcke himself progress from street-trader to shop owner.
The story started when he was at school in Dakar and learnt about Nelson Mandela. “Brought by God,” he arrived in Bedford 18 years ago and set up as a pavement trader. It was tough – “being out there in the cold every day just in case even one customer came.”
But it gave him first hand experience of the market. Four years later, his patience paid off and he started trading from a shop where he could sell clothes. He has a very keen eye for fashion.
Today he occupies one of the biggest retail spaces in Bedford – a large historic building which the landlord (Kempston Properties) has just repainted icing-sugar pink. Unlike many a fusty-dusty country stores, Chiam’s is bright and fresh, and, as fast as Bedford’s notorious dust settles, it’s flicked off.
Such is Chiam’s reputation as a good-hearted and trustworthy citizen, no one in the town begrudges his success, and, as Julienne du Toit writes in the book: “Everyone … has something good to say about him.”
(The book will be launched at the Karoo Writers’ Festival in Cradock on Saturday at 17:30. Find the full festival programme on www.karoowritersfestival.weebly.com).