Malls have proliferated all over Johannesburg, which is why the quaint, open-air urban “village” of 44 Stanley Avenue in Milpark is such a treat. Owner Brian Green says it offers people a simple, authentic experience in an “outsized, depersonalised” world.
The understated complex has come a long way since its iffy beginnings in 2004, when he converted a bunch of dilapidated industrial buildings and old workshops into a trendy hub of speciality shops and hangout joints, which shyly opened in 2005.
Waves of tenants later, it has settled down into a delightful mix of artsy traders, crafters and restaurateurs around sets of piazzas that you could easily imagine in a village – or in Rome, Paris or Amsterdam.
“People really want an organically grown, real shopping experience,” says Green. “There’s a turning back to the neighbourhood butcher-baker lifestyle, which is what I’ve aimed for at 44 Stanley Avenue. The retailers are carefully selected, and there are no big brands. Over the years it’s been fine-tuned, and the result is a calm yet creatively invigorating space to spend time.”
My visit on an ordinary weekday proves that this is a recipe that works, and is sustainable.
Unassuming from the street, you enter into a courtyard anchored by the Il Giardino Italian restaurant, with its sprawl of 150 chairs and tables arranged around a circular water feature. Over weekends, there’s a queue for this al fresco eatery, with its romantic backdrop courtesy La Basse-cour, retailer of imported rustic furniture and exquisite chandeliers from France, Belgium and Italy. Live music is presented here on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday lunchtimes.
To the right is another vibey meeting-eating-working hub adjoining Vovo Telo bakery and café. Sacks of stone-ground flour are piled near the entrance, and a team of six bakers works at night to produce the freshest ciabatta, baguettes, croissants and panini in town. I highly recommend the olive and cheese sticks.
“We’ve been busy since we opened a year ago, and I think we’ve added a lot to the foot traffic at 44 Stanley. People love the old French bakery style,” says owner Sandra Turanjanin.
Next door is Wizards Vintage, an evocative mix of second-hand and vintage clothing and shoes, among them a pair of Jimmy Choos and a few Miu Mius, as well as a cabinet full of gorgeous Zoja Mihic vintage jewellery.
By contrast, Vintage Cowboys across the way is in deference to everything 1950s and colourful, like a red Vespa scooter and geometric furniture so typical of the era, creating a shop frontage that is a work of art in itself.
One of the most interesting businesses in this piazza is Candice Wyatt-Minter’s Wyatt Hairdressing, a salon set out like a science lab where way-out, Vidal Sassoon-like styles are standard, and the ethos is “sustainable” – read organic coffee, green products and plans to introduce iPads to replace unrecyclable glossy magazines. So busy has this hairdressing-cum-barbering salon been, just on word-of-mouth, that you need to book two weeks ahead.
Meandering right along, through the passageway that connects the eastern courtyard, you get Reg Vicars’s Duka Art shop full of eccentric collections, from religious icons to jewellery to objets d’art such as a white powder-coated Singer sewing machine.
“I traded in Melville for years, but moved here two-and-a-half years ago. I couldn’t be happier,” he says.
In the eastern courtyard is the celebrated Salvation Café, which has gone from strength to strength since it opened four-and-a-half years ago. “We source everything daily, so it’s fresh and mostly organic. Over weekends there are queues to get a seat,” says co-owner Remko van Niekerk, of Holland.
On either side of the restaurant are two veterans of 44 Stanley, artist Lulu Baily’s Lucky Fish, a shop full of antique cabinets and a shifting array of beautiful furniture and all sorts of interesting odds and ends, and Nalphy Lesoma’s Antiques & Heritage of Europe, an emporium of country house-style furniture.
But where I lingered longest was author and traveller Adam Levin’s Imagine Nation homeware store, a treasure trove of furniture and knick-knacks from places like Bali, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Turkey, the trophies of Levin’s journeys and tasteful eye.
And for coffee when your pottering is done, you can step into Bean There coffee roastery, serving fresh African coffees that will have you buying some beans for home before you leave.
There are a clutch of other shops to visit, and two more to come that Green is excited about, including his own shop, Tin Table (metal furniture), and a new tenant from London, Religion Clothing.
Like Johannesburg itself, 44 Stanley Avenue is ever evolving, only it’s doing it “backwards” to a more charmed time. And apparently it’s just what the doctor ordered.
l To see all the stores and restaurants, and their contact numbers, visit www.44stanley.co.za - The Star