Of course not, I had a whole new suburb's worth of op shops to check out!
Meet Marrickville. Three op shops (and lots of discount stores and cheap crappy fabric shops.)
Op shop one: Salvos.
Thumbs down big time, unfortunately. Were they playing "Salvos Radio" (is there such a thing?!) or just a happy clappy radio station? Whichever, it put me quite off. The shop was dark and cluttered, the stock looked particularly sad and tired. I bought nothing.Further down the street, op shop two: The Smith Family (I fought the urge to have a two minute silence outside for the death of Canberra's Smith Family Shop)
Once again, it was small and cluttered and nothing jumped out at me. No groovy vintage linen or fabric and no wool to be seen at all...So by the time I got to the bottom of the hill and op shop three, I wasn't expecting much. But then I noticed the sign said St Vincent de Paul Society not Vinnies. My heart lept. My breath quickened. Yes! I had found an old style Vinnies!
They had woo... err yarn (very lurid colours very odd ingredients. I left it alone). They had buttons (I bought 13, for a total of $1.30 - slight more than I'm used to paying but I was getting kinda desperate to buy something) Still no decent fabric or knitting needles but after the last two stops I was happy enough.But on the whole, I won't be in a tearing hurry to head back to the op shops of Marrickville next time I'm in town.
I was so excited when I started reading your post! Marrickville! Home of op-shops-bound-to-be-better-than-Newtown-Salvos! I had visions of me spending next Saturday there during my trip to Sydney.
ReplyDeleteThank heavens for honest reviews!
Are you having a good time though?
I can still remember the surprise I felt when entering my first UK op shop when I spent 6 months there a few years ago. It was beautifully set out, all the clothes must have been treated with an Anti-Pong agent, and it was so light and airy. If only Sydney ones were like that.
ReplyDeleteMy fave fabric shop in Sydney is in Marrickville, its called The Remnant Warehouse, just down the hill from the rest of the shops.
ReplyDeleteMichelle - try Chatswood instead, although I have to say I came up empty handed on a trip to the Orchard Arcade Vinnies on Friday - didn't have time to get down to the Victoria Ave one. I've also had good luck at the Roselle Vinnies - a particularly good visit if the markets are on just up the road and you also nip into Herbies for some goodies and have a bite to eat at The Barn.
ReplyDeleteDon't bother with Roselle Salvos, though.
Oh and Anonymous - I think the Remnant Warehous eis the shop my friend was raving about. After I got back to her place after my exploration of the main street.... :-/
ReplyDeleteHere is the web page http://www.theremnantwarehouse.com.au/
ReplyDeletethey really have the bext fabric and are pretty reasonable.
Just FYI my fave op shop is at the Wayside Chapel in the cross, best bargains I have ever seen.
thanks for the honesty. i'm from the states and am heading down to sydney in a couple months, just trying to find some good op shops to head to. any suggestions. never been to sydney before, so i'm quite unfamiliar with the area. thanks.
ReplyDeleteThere is another op-shop on the other side of Marrickville Rd called "U-Turn". Its quite pricey but I always find decent stuff there. Thanks for the honest review. I live in Marrickville and so visit the Marrickville Rd Op-shops regularly. Do you know of any others in the local suburbs? Im new to the area and would love to find some more places to shop at !
ReplyDeletexx Christie
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