Greenside Gems : Wire World Crafters – Owen Chisvo

written by Catherine Nixon

Owen, together with his older brother Alfred, moved to Jhb from Harare about 6 six years ago now.  They set up an informal trade in Greenside and were eventually fortunate enough to secure a permanent spot at Village Green Shopping Centre, where management appreciated that Owen needed an area that wasn’t directly on the pavement.

Alfred taught Owen the craft of sculpting works of art from beads, and you can see that not only their innate talent, but skill has been passed down from one generation to another.  They used to sell their work at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, but with the tough economy and stiff competition in the tourist market, they decided to move to SA and found their way to Greenside.

I have bought from Owen over the years and always found him such a ray of sunshine in my day.  He has a beautiful smile that lights up his whole face and goes out of his way to ensure that you are happy with your purchase.  He not only sells the pieces that he has on display each day but takes custom orders.  Recently, he made up 100 protea keyring holders for wedding gifts.

Owen isn’t a formal business owner in Greenside but is definitely one of our well-known and liked business owners.  His customer service attitude, friendly nature and beautiful products have made him and his brother’s business a definite gem of Greenside.