About Us
OFS Canvas was established in 1947 by Mr. Henry Kaplan, originally from Lithuania. Mr. Kaplan was very well known and highly respected in several towns in the Freestate and the Cape Province. The original staff included a professional Scottish Sail maker - Mr. Brown and two assistants who made custom built tents, tarpaulins, awnings and other canvas products. All of these were made from 100% pure cotton canvas. Nylon and PVC were unheard of in those days.
The original shop was in Maitland Street, during 1973 the business was taken over by Neville and Celeste Garzouzie who continued to serve the Free State from the same premises until moving to the present shop at 66 West Burger Street in 1992. The new address offered safe parking for customers and more manufacturing space.
The range of awnings and shade products has vastly improved over the last 20 years. With the introduction of modern synthetic materials, the quality, durability and colour features of the products have changed beyond recognition. These modern materials carry a five year guarantee but many are still performing their functions 10 years later.
Several years ago, OFS Canvas introduced a new design and manufacturing technique of the popular retractable awning. This technique has been copied by numerous other companies country-wide and is used throughout the industry today. OFS Canvas also holds the South African Patent for the Retractable Rollershade Patio Cover.
In June 2004, Braam Korff and two other’s bought out the interests of the Garzouzie Family. Most of the loyal staff was kept for their expertise and in many cases, service of more than 30 years. During 2010 the other two partners interest was bought out by Braam and since then he has been the sole owner. There have already been exciting new developments like OFS Canvas being appointed as the sole agent in Central South Africa by Tentco and Power Plastics whose top quality products will broaden our horizons even further.
We have a permanent staff compliment of more than 20 loyal and skilled people and strive towards empowering them by equal opportunities, regular training and re-training in all aspects of their work. We are Level 4 BEE Compliant.
Our main focus is on quality and service excellence to every client - no one too big or too small. Our arena of activities comprises mainly of the Free State, Northern Cape, Lesotho and the Eastern Cape. We do however have some national and international clients. Our trading hours are Monday to Friday 08h00 to 17h00 and Saturdays from 09h00 to 12h00.