The Warriors Go Grey St Shopping In 2017

On Saturday, 01 July 2017 five mates, Ian, Colin, Peter – John, Dinesh and Ant set out for the second edition of shopping up a storm in Durban’s world famous Grey Street area. Ian, who is a pro at fixing Irish coffees suggested Irish’s were a great way to start the day and who were we to argue. Okay, I know there are only three Irish coffee glasses but Dinesh was running late and Peter – John was meeting us in Grey St. Ian chauffeured us into Grey St, we parked at Nichol Square, met Peter – John and the adventure began.

Our first port of call was the legendary Soli Omar tailors who have been around for over 60 years and who regaled us with stories of a bygone era even giving us privy to some old ads and invoices. Soli Omar is also where Dinesh started the days purchases with a smart black belt

After Soli Omar we went literally two doors up the road to Omars where had a good chat about how little the area has changed over the years. The only well known store no longer there was Reg Wright Sports where many of us bought our soccer boots back in the day. Time to move on, Omars will feature more prominently in this adventure a bit later

Across the road is Kaljees where Ian bought a beautiful pair of brogues on our last foray into this vibrant part of Durban and the guys remembered us. Ian was on a mission for a pair of ostrich skin shoes and Kaljees had the answer. The question was, did they have his size, the answer, sadly not. “Don’t worry” our friends at Kaljees said, “We’ll order you a pair, give us your contact details and we’ll call you when they arrive, should take about six weeks”.

We bade Kaljees farewell and started our meander, popping into a few shops on the way to brunch at Little Gujurat. The guys looked at shoes and tried on a pair of trousers here and there all the while comparing prices however Dinesh’s solitary purchase was what accompanied us to brunch. Things were going to change a bit later. Brunch at Little Gujurat was brilliant, we had an assortment of the restaurants finest samosas, puri patta, chilli bites, veda, masala dosa, bhaja and pakoras

After satisfying our hunger we continued our stroll and saw some vehicles that prove this area is still in a bit of a time warp. The good old bull nose Bedford – middle photo – brought back a few memories of doing national service

We drifted through a few side streets and were amazed at the all shops and more importantly the value for money until finding ourselves back at Omars

After three years of trying to find my size Omars came up trumps and those Crockett and Jones suede brogues came into my possession

I’m not sure whether finally finding my size was the catalyst or the beautiful Pringle jersey Colin had seen during our first visit there earlier but the boys started to shop, shoes, shirts, jerseys, it was great fun.

“I don’t wear brogues” Colin said more than once and it was not only he who succumbed to this beautiful classic style of shoe, Peter – John also succumbed.

Colin tried his black Crockett and Jones brogues on and was immediately sold, Peter – John took a bit longer as can be seen in the photos above before deciding, both men very happy with their purchases. Dinesh broke the trend preferring to go the casual route

Suddenly it was all over, Ian’s order was in and the guys had made their purchases. Thanks to the staff at Omars for their great service, we’ll see you same place, same time next year

Although we said cheers to Peter – John, we were not quite finished, it was back to yours truly’s house for a closing Irish coffee made by the master and to check out and admire our new purchases