About Us

A Brief History

The story starts on the 30th October 1935, when Mr. Albert Geldard and Mr. Theo Perlman established a company called Electrical Appliances (Pty) Ltd with the primary focus being that of selling imported electrical components to the motor industry.
Mr. Perlman’s health deteriorated dramatically during the Second World War which prompted him to resign from the company. Mr. Perlman"s place was taken by Mr. Maynard Marias and subsequently the company rebranded itself; changing from Electrical Appliances (Pty) Ltd to Gelmar (Pty) Ltd (the eponymous company name reflecting the names of Mr. Geldard and Mr. Marias). The company’s priority broadened to include fishing tackle, sports and miscellaneous hobby equipment sales.
During the course of 1951 Mr. Marias resigned from Gelmar (Pty) Ltd which saw Mr. Geldard running the business on his own until 1966 when his son, Mr. Bob Geldard, joined the company. At this time, the company accommodated machine and furniture fitting manufacturers as well as a wood-working range.

Mr. Albert Geldard passed away during the year of 1971.

Mr. Bob Geldard assumed full control of the company after his father’s passing and since then Gelmar (Pty) Ltd has gradually broadened its activities to become kitchen and furniture fitting specialists whilst retaining its agency operations. To date we have over 300 empolyees as well as 35 brick and mortar store including 5 distributors thoughtout South Africa, and a distributor in Windhoek (Namibia).

Argus 1987

Gelmar Argus newpaper supplement with Mr. Bob Geldard - 1987.

Our Goal

Whether you are a contractor looking to do major renovations for your client or if you are just a home owner doing a bit of DIY in and around your house, we pride ourselves on supplying our trade and retail customers with a wide variety of products. Renovations can be very costly, but we at Gelmar actively drive our prices down to give our customers the best value for money. We have also introduced our own competitive product range, keeping our costs low yet maintaining the highest standards of quality.
Even though we specialize in handles and furniture fittings, there are multiple other items that you will find under our roof. We offer various kitchen, bathroom and bedroom accessories as well as maintenance and repair tools. From sofa and table legs to lacquers, stains, varnishes, paintbrushes, drawer runners and aluminium doors... The list is endless!

Early years

Gelmar early years in Cape Town.

What We Do

With over 80 years experience, you are guaranteed in dealing with a company that has an established reputation. Gelmar has friendly, helpful staff members, who offer advice on every item and give of their best at all times. Our wide variety of categories range from Bedroom, Bathroom and Kitchen right through to Hinges, Sinks, Tools and Castors and everything in between and our products are sourced both locally and internationally.
With our customer in mind, we also offer a Click-and-Collect service, which is available when purchasing from our online store (www.gelmar.co.za) so that you do not have to wait in any queues. At Gelmar we are always looking at ways to better our services which is why we encourage our customers to send through positive or negative feedback to us via our various means of communication.

KCB Exhibition 1995

Gelmar at KCB exhibition - 1995.