Jun 4, 2012

The Salvos in Fitzroy

Laura / Fitzroy, Shops / Melbourne, op-shops, opportunity shops, Salvos, The Salvos Stores / 4 Comments

I fell in love with this store. I generally do with huge, well set-up stores though. (I also tend to fall in love with small, jumbled cheap stores too!)

This place was honestly a giant treasure trove though. Rows and rows of pretty shoes, bags, clothes as far as the eye could see… Fantastic!

 

 

 

 

I have only just begun exploring the op-shops around northern Melbourne recently, and I reckon they can rival the south! I am very much falling in love with the area of Brunswick and Fitzroy in general, and although they will probably never take the place of Prahran in my heart, they are coming in a close second!

I find the whole area so vibrant and with such a mish-mash of people. Perhaps a bit less ‘fake’, I suppose, to some one who grew up in Brighton.

But back to the store itself. One thing that really got me was how new everything seemed, especially in a store so big!

 

 

And if the items weren’t new, they were in really good condition. I easily could have spent half a day in here browsing, and then gone on to spend half my pay cheque. I think this also reflects on how well it was organised – the staff/volunteers obviously were going through stock with a fine-tooth comb to make sure the displays stayed neat.

 

 

Another thing that really grabbed my attention was the amount of original artworks. If you actually manage to get through all the clothes, shoes, bags and books; the artwork is down the bag of the store. If I was looking to furnish a house with art, I’d probably make a stop here.

 

 

 

There was only one downer on my visit here. I got a really, really narky volunteer that served me. (The others I spoke to seemed lovely, it was just this one person who seemed to hate the world in general.) Hopefully she was just having a bad day though, and isn’t like that all the time!

The prices here were pretty good. The usual Salvos prices really – I got a pair of lovely blue ballet flats (Zu) for $6. Things that were real leather (or wool, etc.) were marked up accordingly.

 

 

I was there on a weekday, so I’m not sure how frantic it can get. I’d imagine it can get pretty busy though as it’s on Smith Street. It’s definitely a cool store, and if you happen to be around the northern suburbs I’d recommend a visit!

Which brings me to my next point… you can find this store at:

427 Smith Street
Fitzroy
VIC 3065

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