Very close to Hyde Park and
Piccadilly in London, tucked away in Mayfair, is the secluded
refuge of Shepherd’s Market.
It is home to a number of quaint pubs, cozy cafes and cute
boutiques, each with its own distinctive shopfront. James
Kearney, a Londoner , has brought a bit of this London
style to Johannesburg.
He has converted the empty parking area of a block of flats
into a bright and breezy shopping centre. Shepherd’s
Market is just down the drag from Johannesburg’s
version of Hyde Park — it’s No 339 Jan Smuts
Avenue, just before the Colony Shopping Centre on the left.
It couldn’t be more different from your average city
mall. It’s truly tiny and completely unbranded. No
chain-stores to be found here.
The mix of shops is rather strange and random. There’s
an Internet space (that is not a coffee shop), an e-florist,
a clothing store, hand-made knob shop, a hair shop, and
the rest of the collection is made up of Chinese shops.
Kearney claims that the proliferation of Chinese shops — three
out of eight of the shops have a Chinese influence — is
completely coincidental.
“The Chinese supermarket was here first, then came Yung Chen, the Chinese
Noodle Den and, following that, Chinese Corner, specialising in high-quality
Chinese tea, Chinese gifts and kung fu weapons, of all things. These guys were
actually all from completely different parts of China and didn’t really
get on initially.”
The experience of Chinese Corner is pretty authentic. The
owner Raymond Keung has been in South Africa for only four
years and is a “Jow Ga” or Chinese kung fu
master. He teaches kung fu in the Rosebank Scout Hall and
sells the weapons needed for practice, such as battle axes
and swords.
Raymond is also a Chinese traditional massage therapist
and his wife, Bonnie, is an expert in the traditional high-quality
Chinese tea that is used in tea ceremonies.
Next door to Chinese Corner, the florist arranges fresh
bunches ready for delivery in a space the size of a pantry,
and across the way Zeus Smit stands outside to welcome
a customer into his clothing store, Deelux.
The Chinese supermarket, a few shops down, is a gold mine
of unusual tastes and flavours where you can stock up on
dried lemon grass, fresh turmeric, aniseed and lime leaves.
They also stock beautifully bottled sake and authentic
two-minute noodles in very strange flavours.
Each shopfront is painted a different colour and the whole
effect is very summery. Unfortunately, Cafe Tulip seems
to still be under renovation because it would be great
to have a coffee and a snack.
Kearney says the centre is not quite finished yet and that
there’s still a lot of room for improvement, especially
on the restaurant and coffee shop front.
We’ll be waiting ... |
Select a Florist
