About Us
as much a part of treasured family history as china, jewelry, or silver”.
(American teddy bear artist & collector)
Fred-i-Bear Shop
In September 2009 Lynette Kennedy opened a shop at Lifestyle Garden Home, Johannesburg, South Africa. Enjoy a cup of coffee at the Silver Birch restaurant, and enjoy admiring all the various flowers available. Irene Rantsimele is the manager and a competent Teddy bear Artist.We have a new assistant, Silica who works on a Thursday and Sunday. Fredibear, is the South African stockist for the well known and loved Charlie Bears,Merrythought, Deans, Suki, Suki Silver Tag, Steiff, Mary Meyer ,Beatrix Potter and Peluche.
A Note from Michael James Kittredge III
When he was just sixteen, my father Mike Kittredge made a candle using his old childhood crayons for his mother’s Christmas present. This was the start of a tiny but fast-growing business called the Yankee Candle Company. By following his inspiration and always stressing quality, my father made Yankee the candle industry standard and reshaped the modern giftware landscape. He sold Yankee Candle to Forstmann Little & Co. in 1998, and retired from the world of wax and wicks – or so he thought.
Christmas 2009, the Kringle Candle Company was born. And our new home is less than twenty miles from Yankee Candle, on the very same state highway. I’m proud that the company my Dad created is so close by, and that we offer a high quality product and visitor experience as well.
To date ( 2022) presently,our shop is the only teddy bear shop in South Africa. Many Teddy bear shops have closed due to high rentals in shopping malls, collectors not supporting the local shops and buying online and local bear artists purchasing supplies online.
Imported goods are expensive in South Africa. The rate of exchange is high and fluctuates daily with extremely high shipping costs to South Africa. Our orders are sent via a shipping agent, ensuring that we receive the goods, without them getting lost in the local postal system, this impacts on the selling price.
We do have customers coming into the shop, viewing bears, then buying online- Please try and support the shop.
Please email Lynette with any questions – lck@mweb.co.za
We thank all our loyal customers and continue to strive to offer an excellent service to all customers.