It’s an unlikely place to site a tailor’s business, but my new favourite clothes maker sits on the top floor of the increasingly popular “Nuts about Cakes” store on Fola Osibo in Lekki I.
Today, rather than shuffle straight through, blanking the smells from the bakery and fancy display cabinets, I turned right. In truth, I had little choice having come to the tailor’s escorted by my 2 soldiers with a combined age of 14!
And so, we got in line, picked out our treats and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Suddenly, the good vibes we got from all the earlier pleasantness – the attentive security guards, the nice clean frontage, the smells, and the display of oven goodness – slowly went up in bakery smoke. The girls behind the till seemed rushed and uncoordinated, and what looked briefly like relief personnel just walked right through, phone in hand, oblivious of the situation. This cannot be good for business.
But permit me to digress: Nuts About Cakes has a lovely and functional café, complete with beautiful people, coffee smell (or should I say cappuccinos), and wifi! The thought of walking in there, Mac book in hand, spending the morning writing music just seemed like the life to lead. Except that I am not a musician and I can’t write music. But if I could, I would certainly do it at this lovely café.
Now back from my alternate reality: Ganiyat(?) I think her name was, managed effortlessly to save the day. She was nice, apologetic for our wait, friendly with the boys, and smiled warmly and naturally, juggling customers on a first come first serve basis, without upsetting anyone. Now this was more like it. She recommended what she thought the young customers might like, and took time to engage them. And when a particularly difficult customer seemed bent on making a fuss, Ganiyat just parried the harsh tone and impatient manner with her warm friendliness.
The question then is, why aren’t there more people like her at Nuts About Cakes? While we ponder this puzzle, let me also recommend – Nuts About Cakes is a really nice place to visit with family, or alone with a good book; that is if you’re not into premiership football but still want a nice outing on a Saturday afternoon. It’s clean, it’s attractive, and it’s certainly classy enough to attract the right crowd, ie, the paying type a posh business like this would hope to serve.
But they need more Ganiyats: all that sweetness should spread beyond the fondant. If they can pull this off, I’ll gladly learn to play the piano and even offer to hold a few gigs at the café, wearing my kampala shirts, surrounded by fellow bohemians.
Last word? A nutty 7.5/10 for this genuine yuppie hangout.
where is the right place for tailoring business?