Sweet cuppin' cakes, were did this place come from?
As a lover of kitsch and a sincere appreciator of all things strange and good, I was delighted to discover this Tardis-like shopping centre while wandering the far end of Little Mary Street. In general I've always enjoyed excursions up this end of the street, it appeals to my sense of humour and love of community.
Tucked snugly between an Asian grocery and a fetish wear shop, the mall is a less-evolved version of Moore Street's grunting behemoth of an underground mall.On my visit, Mary Mall's entrance looked more like a double-width shop front who happened to specialise in haircuts for men and women's track suits.
Inside, the narrow hall was empty and run with fresh phone lines and cabeling -a remaining effect from the mall's recent overhaul.
At what I took to be the end of the mall, the building opened up into a massive double-height space sectioned off in small avenues with plywood shops.
Here's where it gets good, because there's a lot of new and emerging shops here, some hawking the same old bulk-order jewellery and beauty products, but others here show real potential: a Mauritian grocery; a small beauty spa offering the cheapest eyebrow threading I've seen yet; a delightful vintage record shop and a very odd internet cafe that's little more than a few cafeteria tables with PCs whirring away.
Make a point to veer off course the next time you're fighting upstream on Henry street and stop into Mary Mall, you may not find what you're looking for, but you'll certainly smile. read more