The V&A Waterfront is calling on entries for its annual Neighbourhood Awards.

Having generated over R10 billion in sales in 2024, and coming off he back of its best December on record with a 24% increase in international customer sales, the V&A Waterfront is still “riding a retail high halfway through 2025, with strong indicators in place for success for the remainder of the year,” says Alex Kabalin, retail executive at the V&A Waterfront.

“Cape Town is currently outperforming in the context of the rest of the country and the Waterfront outperforms other retail destinations within the context of Cape Town itself, thanks to strong local support and international visitors who travel at all times of the year,” he says.

As one of the leading retail environments in Africa, and one of the world’s most dynamic waterfront neighbourhoods, the V&A Waterfront and its tenants not only keep abreast of change but drive positive shifts in the market including an increased emphasis on innovation and sustainability.

As a result, they display remarkable buoyancy in a retail landscape where the Consumer Confidence Index (which measures how South Africans feel about spending and saving) plunged to the lowest it’s been in years during Q1 2025.

To stay ahead of the curve, and to motivate and reward its tenant mix, the V&A Waterfront holds its annual Neighbourhood Awards, now in its second year. The awards programme not only creates resilience within the waterfront property itself, but it also drives the national conversation around bolstering the economy.

The awards aim to recognise and reward tenants who demonstrate exceptional quality, creativity, customer service, and contribution to overall visitor experience. All retail and food & beverage tenants can enter the awards across all qualifying categories.

“We are shining a spotlight on remarkable individuals and businesses in our neighbourhood who embody resilience, innovation, and an unwavering dedication to the extraordinary,” notes Kabalin.

The 2025 award categories include:

• Sustainability & Impact Award, honouring excellence in sustainability, social impact, and empowerment.
• Brand & Store Experience Award, recognising stand outs in marketing, activations, renovations, fit outs, and visual merchandising.
• Service Excellence Award, celebrating extraordinary customer service in retail, small business, and food service.
• Store Talent Award, acknowledging the frontline teams that bring extraordinary to the floor daily.
• Neighbourhood Champion Award, honouring neighbourliness and ambassadorship in the V&A Waterfront world.
• People’s Choice Award, chosen by the public, who vote in two rounds, to identify the winning store and eatery.
• Special Recognition Award for retail champions and long-lasting tenants.
• Retail Excellence Award, decided by composite calculation which consolidates all traditional retail performance metrics and levels the playing field for tenants of all sizes.

Online entries are open and close on Sunday, the 27^th of July at midnight (South African time).

The awards will be judged anonymously, remotely, and independently by a distinguished panel of judges who are highly respected experts in their fields. The judging process will take place between the 7^th of August and 16^th of September 2025 with the winners announced during an awards evening on the 1^st of October 2025.