Monday 14 March 2011

How to celebrate Canberra Day...

...head interstate to op shop!

Taph and I headed to Goulburn for the first time in far to long to update the
I Op listings.

And just as well we did: there've been some changes since we last visited.

Father Riley's op shop closed down last Thursday. Not that you can tell from the front:

It was only when the front door didn't open and we went round the back that we found some staff and were told they had closed. We also discovered that the Salvos that used to be at the back of the arcade has moved:It's now located at 123 Auburn Street: on the other side of the road, at the other end of town.

Hours are Monday to Friday 9:30am - 5pm, and Saturday 9:30am - 12:30pm. At the moment they have a special on summer clothing: Ladies or children's summer clothing is $2 a bag.

Inside is large and airy, with a good craft/ manchester selectionand a number of "rooms" set up with the furniture they had for sale.
What we didn't like was the lighting: with only half the lights on it was difficult to see the details of some of the clothing in the centre of the shop.

And, although there were many interesting things, they were all marked with the dreaded "NFS". The woman behind the counter explained that they kept the items to make interesting displays. I just found it very frustrating that every time I spotted a treasure from across the shop, on closer inspection, it bore the dreaded "For display only" sign.

The prices seemed inconsistent, but on the high side.

And a newcomer to the scene since we last visted: The Purple Patch, run by Anglicare at 232 Auburn Street.
Open Monday - Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm and Saturday 9:30am - 12:30pm, we found this a very inviting shop which sounded good and smelt divine. The wooden floorboards were a lovely touch for a Canberran (as was the beautiful fireplace I spotted behind the large sized clothing rack). And the fact that I managed to grab a bag of three balls of Jo Sharp and Aliseo wool for $5 total and Taph found the cutest black and white spotty sundress for $3 (they have half price on all summer clothing) made us very happy.

Did you head across the border to op shop today?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

That Father Riley's was pretty feral and had a sanitation bin that I am pretty sure was a biohazard for the last six months. It stank and I never found anything special in there.

The Salvos is pretty good and I have always had good luck there - and one day when I was DESPERATE for the loo the lovely ladies took me out the back and let me use their loo, so they have my undying loyalty forever!

The Vinnies in the little arcade has the occasional treasure too.

Always worth a quick stop in Goulburn.

Sarah xxx

Taphophile said...

Absolutely agree about Fr Riley's - it was not my favourite place. Grotty is not attractive.

Ms Frump said...

I went to St Vinnies in Cooma on Monday - a lot of their snow stuff is already for sale (two circular racks full). Much of it is ex-hire but in good condition. They are charging top dollar for some though - saw an almost new high-end brand kids jacket for $40. I actually went in to look at their kids footy boots (clean, good condition $5) but none in my son's size. My daughter (3yr old) then dragged me away before I had a chance to look any more...

Finding Joy said...

I have been wanting to ask someone for ages - and you might be just the lady - do you know if the large secondhand shop in Yass is still open, the one on the main street?

Jo

Taphophile said...

Cooma Vinnies is a bit exxy for snow stuff, but I guess it's understandable. Shame about the footy boots, though, Ms Frump.

And Jo, I've blogged your request - let's hope well all find out soon.