Quality rather than quantity is the name of the game at the Birdhaven Centre just off Corlett Drive. In a city where crowds spend hours in the many malls the smaller centre has a growing appeal for the shopping connoisseur.
For example, the Intoto Gallery is a fun space which makes art accessible and offers mainstream exhibitions of well-known artists’ work. Schwartz Jewellers recently held an art and jewellery show there.
The gallery is owned by Jessica Slack andJacques Michau (who is always in the know and at the right parties. His gorgeous Pekinese Louis often steals the show, and can’t bear to be away from his owner).
Pretty curator Megan Kidd hails from Cape Town and likes the vibe of the gallery and the centre, which reminds her of the Mother City.

“It’s a comfortable space displaying beautiful things,” she says.
The Birdhaven centre, owned by Durbanite Ralph Chan, was established in 2010 and is about a boutique experience. It has proved hugely popular and draws a trendy, yet unpretentious, crowd who enjoy a relaxed, yet sophisticated lifestyle.
Ralph is a property developer who saw the potential in the original neglected and undervalued property, bought it and integrated it into the next door space. His overseas experience showed him the benefits of pavement trading, literally a breath of fresh air for shoppers, with a child- and dog-friendly environment.
The centre has proved so popular that he has got permission from the Birdhaven Ratepayers’ Association and the Parks Department to establish a parking lot to complement the centre. The plan is to employ two caretakers to mind the children while their parents have a meal. He envisages trees, slides for the children and a cultural market involving one of the nearby schools (the children can plant vegetables).
With all the trouble over having to pay to park in the street, like in Parkhurst (R8 a pop is the most expensive parking in the city), this will be very welcome. Joburgers get harassed and pestered in every direction 24/7, anyway, and they are also bled dry through rates and taxes, so anything that makes their life easier is very welcome!
So it’s official: Joburgers like smaller spaces – and no parking mafia.
Besides the gallery, the centre boasts a beautiful florist, an internal courtyard with a little cafe, Gloss salon, a hairdresser, a small pharmacy, Voodoo Lily Cafe and boutique shop Katie H.

Upstairs are units which were once residential but have been turned into offices (Joburg’s “eyebrow lady” Gillian Lentin occupies one of them).
There are also two mini penthouses, one of which Ralph and his family own.
The presence of Planet Fitness across the road is a good complement, and the members often come across for coffee, says Ralph.
My favourite experience at Birdhaven is popping into Gloss, an upmarket nail salon for the perfect mani and pedi for a party, or just as a treat.
Last time I tried the “calabash massage”, a brand new treatment. This was designed for customers with very sensitive feet, who don’t enjoy deep massage on their insteps. The calabashes are small and smooth, and used in conjunction with foot scrub. They massage without causing any discomfort and it is wonderful to relax into a magazine or just close your eyes and enjoy being pampered.
The freezachinos are the best in the city. Gloss orders them in from Voodoo Lily, run by Beth Cameron. You can’t walk past this organic cafe without seeing someone you know, or being hailed by a group of jolly businessmen who want you to sit and drink with them!
(In fact, you will always see someone you know at Birdhaven. Pop in for a facial or a bit of Botox, with not a stitch of make-up on, and all the people having coffee at Dolce in the downstairs courtyard, will shout up at you: “Hallo!“)
Beth prides herself on the personal attention her staff provide. “People are so relaxed here that they sometimes come in in their pyjamas,” she tells me.
And it’s a prime brekky spot, if you love your French toast or a spot of Eggs Benedict over your morning paper. All the ingredients are organic and sustainable and it’s a pleasure to just sit and feel waves of relaxed happiness breaking over you.
So, when is the food market coming? Ralph tells me he wants to start up a small Saturday market in the proposed parking lot.
Birdhaven is all about personal attention, both to oneself and from others. Let’s hope more spaces like it spring up soon in Joburg.