Shopping Craighall Park, Rosebank Region, Johannesburg
There is shopping and there is SHOPPING .. to the everyday and ordinary shopping first. Liz at Lancaster is very conveniently located for general access to local shopping and amenities. There are several local shopping areas within easy reach.
- The closest is half a block away: corner Lancaster and Clarence, a three minute walk. There is a Spar general grocer open 7 days a week, a greengrocer, chemist and Dolci an excellent Italian restaurant.
- At the Dunkeld shopping centre: corner Jan Smuts and Bompas, there is a whole range of shops including an Autobank, a bakery and coffee shop, a hardware and an upmarket home-décor store
- And then slightly further in the other direction is The Woods (what used to be the Colony shopping centre, now renovated and upgrade) which also has a number of stores including a pub, restaurants, and a good pharmacy
- Liz at Lancaster is close to the restaurant nodes of Parkhurst, Greenside, with easy access to Rosebank and Melville.
There are several major shopping malls close by all of which have restaurants, movies, bookshops and a wide selection of department stores.
- Hyde Park Corner; probably the most exclusive centre with boutiques, upmarket gift stores, Charles Greig Jewellers and lots of glamourous ladies who ‘lunch’. Airy and well-lit.
- Rosebank Mall linked to The Zone, The Firs, The Galleria, The Mews. Although there is great variety of stores and options, Rosebank Mall (known as the Mall) is not overwhelming in size and there is a very pleasant open area on the ‘west’ or Oxford Rd side of the Mall next to the Zone, where there are nice ‘pavement’ cafes and eateries. Great for people watching. Cinema Nouveau in the Mall has great art movies and more independent movies plus of course shows the HD Opera series from the NY Met. Plus there is the African Craft Market open every day and the Rooftop Market open Sundays. The Zone is targeted to young fashionistas and trendoids. Local fashion brands such as YDE, Stoned Cherrie, Sowetarto, Pure Solid and Sun Goddess; the movie house there shows a lot of Bollywood movies.
- Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square Sandton is a huge megamall. A flagship of Jozi malls but not my favourite because of its size and being so completely enclosed with no external light source. But, like Hyde Park, very glam shops.
- Killarney Mall. An excellent local mall of manageable scale.
Exclusive Books in Hyde Park has been recently refurbished (late 2015) into a great open contemporary airy space with coffee bar, wonderful expanse of tables to sit and browse books and an upmarket restaurant Olives and Plates at the back of the bookshop. With an expanse of floor to ceiling windows there’s lots of light plus great views.
Open 7 days a week from 9 am – 10 pm (Tue, Wed & Thurs), 9 am – 10.30 pm (Fri & Sat) and 9 am – 9 pm (Sun & Mon).
There are several areas which are really fun to browse through, all of which are easily accessible from Liz at Lancaster . Read more at Eating out and Buying art.
- 4th Ave Parkhurst is a great stretch of about 6 blocks lined with antique shops, interesting gift and trinket shops, pavement eateries, etc. So lots of street activity on a summer’s evening and on winter days. Really nice vibe.
- 44 Stanley Avenue, Auckland Park : A private urban development with galleries, restaurants, clubs, alternative retro shopping in a re-used industrial space. Il Giardino is really pleasant open air eatery and Bean There has excellent coffee. Also Art on Paper Art Gallery has interesting exhibitions.
- Bamboo Shopping Centre Melville Cr Rustenberg Rd and 9th St Melville. Small arty centre with Upstairs@Bamboo, the popular eatery the Service Station, wine store, Love Books an excellent independent book shop, local fashion designer Black Coffee, etc.
- Tyrone Ave in Parkview has a real high street feel to it with great coffee shops and pavement cafes, second hand book shops, the fabulous bespoke silver jewellery store Lali and the well-known Art Africa for funky locally-made gift and décor items.
There are several excellent markets which open on various days in Joburg
- The Bryanston Organic Village Market Culross Rd Bryanston. 011 706 3671 Thursday and Saturday 9-3. Moonlight Market on the last Tuesday of every month in summer from 5-9 pm. On a beautiful summer highveld evening it’s a fabulous thing to do. Great natural fabric clothes and handicrafts.
- The very famous Sunday Rosebank Rooftop Market has re-opened after renovations to the Mall.
- Also open on a Saturday is the Playground in Braamfontein – great food stalls and fabulous vibe.
