I recently went with my friends Manuela and Gail to Diagonal Street, a historic Joburg shopping street. Diagonal Street – known for its fabric, blanket, and muti (traditional medicine) shops – is so named because it runs on a diagonal for three blocks between Albertina Sisulu Road and Kerk Street. Manuela wanted to shop for fabric; Gail and I came along for an excuse to get out of the house.
I rarely buy fabric, mainly because I don’t sew, but I love taking photos in fabric shops. So when we walked down a narrow staircase into the MiniMark Wholesale Discount House (thank you Gail for guiding us there), I knew I’d hit the jackpot.
I don’t know why this store is called MiniMark, as there’s nothing “mini” about it. It’s a huge store with every kind of fabric, African or otherwise, as well as shoes, belts, shirts, scarves, blankets, ribbons – basically anything and everything made of cloth.
Manuela and Gail looked at fabric while I wandered around taking photos.
Fatima (who did not want to be photographed) told me all about the history of the shop. Fatima’s family is originally from Sophiatown. But they were forcibly removed in the late 1950s when the apartheid government razed Sophiatown to the ground to make way for Triomf, a whites-only suburb. The shop moved downtown at that point. It has been in its current location for 38 years.
There are many great places in Joburg to shop for (and photograph) fabric, but MiniMark is definitely in my top five. Go check it out – it’s less than ten minutes’ walk from the Newtown Junction mall – and take a walk up Diagonal Street while you’re there. I personally feel safe walking in and around Diagonal Street during the day. But it’s best not to go alone and to keep your valuables out of sight while walking.
The MiniMark Wholesale Discount House is at the corner or Albertina Sisulu Road and Diagonal Street. (It shows up as “33 Market Street” on Google Maps.) Find MiniMark on Instagram at @minimark_fabrics.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.