Red Cross shop in Civic

I may be a little late to the party, but did you know that there's a Red Cross shop in Garema Place, Civic?

I found it by accident while heading to The Green Shed's Garema Place shop to waste some time while waiting for a friend to finish work.

It's light and bright and well organised, with a 'boutique' feel to it to go with its inner-city location (and prices).

If you're in town it's worth checking out. You never know what you'll find...

Red Cross shop
165 City Walk
Civic
Monday - Thursday: 9.30 am - 5.30 pm
Friday: 9.30 am - 7 pm
Saturday: 9.30 am - 5 pm
Sunday: 11 am - 3 pm

Interstate update

I had business in Goulburn last week and took the train, which left me a couple of hours to check the Goulburn op shops (which hadn't been updated on our spreadsheet since at least 2011).

A couple have disappeared (Does Anglicare still have an op shop in Goulburn? I couldn't find it...)

And Vinnies have moved: they're now at 136 Auburn Street, conveniently just down from the Red Cross shop.

Beyond Canberra: The Goulburn Treasure Trove of Oppies

Hello everyone! I'm a long time follower but this is my first post to this blog. I am a huge op shopping fan, currently residing in the lovely capital. If you'd like to check out my op shop finds over the last few months, the best place to go is my blog: .Simply Me. I only started blogging a few months ago, and to date most of my posts are about op shopping in Canberra and Perth! Otherwise, from now on I will also be posting some of my finds on here. 

My friend and I decided to go on an op shopping roadtrip to Goulburn last weekend- perfect timing as Monday was a public holiday in the ACT but not NSW. Here are the shops we visited, and some reviews:

Australian Red Cross Clothing Shop

146 Auburn Street. Goulburn

Don’t bother with this place. They try to be “upmarket” and have prices to match, but not the goods. I saw several ‘Expression’ (Kmart brand) products with prices ranging from $15-$20. They were probably cheaper new! I didn’t see anything worthwhile, nothing retro/vintage, and the prices are sorely inflated. For example, $13 for a used straw beach hat (no brand name). In a town with so much competition, I’m not sure how this place survives. The only shop where neither of us bought a thing!

Big Heart (Mission Australia) Op Shop

Shop 2, 148-158 Sloane Street. Goulburn

This was my favourite oppy – so cheap and such amazing retro crockery. They charge by the kilo for clothing ($5 per kilo)- my friend found an amazing vintage skirt and it cost her... wait for it.... 70 cents! Crockery was priced between 50c and $5, and books are 5 for $2.

Salvation Army — Red Shield Family Store

123 Auburn Street, Goulburn

This place is reasonably priced with sale racks up the front (vintage blouses for $1 when I was there). They have a large range of crockery and bric a brac, which unfortunately is mostly unpriced. You are at the mercy of the staff member who makes up a price on the spot, which I find a bit frustrating. Definitely worth a look see and on the whole the prices are good.

Smith Family Store

Ellesmere Street, Goulburn

This place had the best retro/vintage stock of everywhere we visited. I picked up my stunning 80s dress for a vintage ball there for $12, marked down from $25. They have a really large range of clothing, with less bric a brac. Clothing prices range from $2 - $10, with vintage items up to $25.

St Vincent De Paul — Vinnie’s Centre

Central Arcade (opp. Post Office), Auburn St, Goulburn

Friendly staff and standard prices, mostly ranging from $3-$10 for clothing. They didn’t have much crockery or bric a brac in stock on my visit, it was mostly clothes.

Trish’s Trash & Treasure

1 Fenwick Cres, Goulburn (entry from Bradley St)

From the outside, we expected this place to house mostly furniture but inside we were surprised and amazed at the treasures it holds. Plenty of crockery, a lot of it dusty and dirty and you need to sort through it all to find the gems... but find the gems we did! The prices are very reasonable – my tea set (tea/coffee pot, 4 mugs, sugar) was $5. The prices varied though- I was surprised to see that a vintage Willow tray in very poor condition was $20. My friend picked up some hand painted pie dishes for $2 apiece.

And now (drumroll please....) for the day's finds:

Handpainted baking dishes, $2 each. Lemon water jug, $1. Tea set + potholder, $5.

Coffee set (pots, mugs & sugar holder) $5, Tasmanian pottery teabag holder $2.

Mushroom jar $2, strange pottery piece 50c. 

Pyrex 50c! Arcopal France bowl, 50c.

Vintage bag $3, Johnson Australia Pottery bowl 50c.

 Hens party / wedding gag g-strings, 50c each.

Yellow stripe water jug $1, Op shopping bag {>>

Lambada leather tote, $10

 Unusual felt & knitted framed picture, $3

 Vintage orange skirt, 70c!

The most spectacular find of the day is yet to be posted, it's an amazing 80's dress that I'll be wearing to a vintage ball very soon... I will post photos after the event in my blog!

Goulburn Op-Shops - Red Cross

In Auburn Street, the Red Cross op-shop is an absolute boutique. If you didn't know it was an op-shop, a casual glance wouldn't give it away. Clothing and shoes only.

Very ritzy fit out, clothes arranged by gender and then by colour. Prices were $8 +, with a handy rack of $2 items. Items were individually priced according to quality and condition. New men's shirts in brand names were $12, used $8.

Excellent and separate collection of larger sizes. I bought a lined evening jacket in a size 24 for $8.

Shoes were $10+ but were all in new or near new condition. A selection of new sunglasses, earrings and necklaces were also available.

Also, the Baxters Boots factory shop is nearby and also worth a look. Baxters supplies boots and shoes to the Commonwealth Police - so you know they must be good. They are, I had a pair of riding boots for years and they were lovely.