Op Shop Adventures - Malvern & Ashburton

A couple of weeks ago we went out shopping with my sister in law Vanessa, to some of her favourite op shops. Now, Malvern and Ashburton are normally not on my radar, so I don't bother to go out there. But, considering I wasn't driving, I couldn't complain. We made it to the Salvos in Ashburton, and Vinnies and The Ashburton Oppy in Ashburton. We also went to another Salvos more local to my house, but I'll talk about that separately.

So, firstly was the Salvo's in Malvern:
57 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
9576 0642

  

 

The store is easy to find, and brightly lit. They were playing some nice music in the background, and the store was full of people.

  

Now, like a lot of SALVO's I've been to recently I found the prices to be a little high. But I guess given that Malvern is a high end area I really should have expected it. I still had a look around just in case there was something super special I just 'had to have'. There wasn't, but I did enjoy looking at all of the amazing things. They had beautiful crockery and a spotty tea set I was tempted to take home, if only I had more room! 

I did however find a nice scarf that came home with me, beautiful silk with green and purple butterflies on it. It cost me nearly $7, but I do have a strange love for scarves, so I was okay with it. Now that we had our little purchases, it was off to Ashburton to find out what goodies they had!

The Ashy Op Shop
285B High Street (corner of Welfare Parade)
Ashburton
9885 5923

 

Where to start? Firstly, there is an outside and an inside store. Sounds strange I know, but essentially the outside is for furniture and larger items, and the actual store is for clothes, crockery, bric-a-brac etc. Of course we went rummaging through the furniture first, not looking for anything in particular, but had fun looking anyway. The wooden furniture is all under cover, and the plastic things, like kids toy trikes and baby baths (yes, there were 3 of them) were all out next to the fence, which has no cover. At first I thought it was a little odd, but it makes sense really, considering how much stuff they actually had there, compared to the room.



Next was into the store! They had a few displays out the front full of random things, and inside the store was no different. Mind you, walking into the store was like stepping back at time, I mean really, look at that carpet! I was amazed at how the small store was so full of beautiful things, and how well organised it was.

 

Yes it was a little cluttered, but really you can't expect much more. They had collections of handbags, records, books, crockery, vintage and retro clothes, random electronics, and my favourite, buttons!

  

The staff there were so lovely, and they had no problem with us rifling through things, or me taking photos. I wish I had more energy to stay and keep looking, I feel like there were so many hidden treasures!

We went across the road to the Ashbuton Vinnies afterwards...

Vinnies
252 High Street
Ashburton
9885 2952

We we greeted with a wonderous display of goodies outside the store, which was fun to rifle through, had a great selection of scarves and bakeware. Sadly the rest of the store was lacking much for me, I'm sure others would love it's collection of crockery though! 






  

I will say though, they had a great selection of plus sized clothing, none of it my style, but still I was impressed such a small store had enough stock to have a plus size section! There were plenty of clothes to sort through, but not a whole lot else. After Vinnies, we were planning to go home, but ended up stopping off at another Salvos near my house (Mountain Gate), but I'll post that separately.

Love,

J xx

Op Shop Adventures - Ringwood

I've realised I live in such a rich op shop area, there is at least one in almost every suburb around us. I thought it might be nice to go adventuring and give reviews on them. This past Saturday we went into Ringwood to explore the local oppies, and here is what we found:

Savers Ringwood
79-83 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood, VIC, 3134
03 9870 1600

Mon-Wed, 9am-7pm
Thur-Fri, 9am - 9pm
Sat, 9am - 6pm
Sun, 10am - 6pm

Firstly, as soon as you walk in the store it's clothes, clothes as far as the eye can see. The store is a split level, so all of the adult clothes and shoes are on the main floor, then kids clothes, books, manchester and pretty much everything else, is on the lower floor.





The store is well lit, and very well organised, which makes it a pleasure to shop there. The staff were all very helpful when we asked questions about the stock, and even had a joke with me when I questioned the final cost (a total of $50 when I thought it would be more like $100). The change rooms are roomy, clean and well lit.

   

I think because they're such a large store, with so much stock, they can make their prices a little cheaper. For example, kids clothes ranging from 99cents to $5 each, depending on the item. Womens tops all for $4 or under. Records for $2 each, and even less for the smaller ones. 





The stock we looked at all seemed to be in pretty good condition, and the prices were easy to see (the tags for clothes were in obvious places, price stickers for books on the back cover etc).

All in all, I loved going to Savers. We came away with a bag of clothes and a book, for $50, which I thought was amazing. The only thing I missed was seeing a Plus Size section, but I guess you can't win 'em all!

Next was onto Salvos, which is essentially right next door.

Salvos Ringwood
71 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood
Mon-Fri, 9:00 - 5:30pm
Sat, 9:00 - 5:30pm

Look, I'm not going to lie, we walked into the store, went around once and walked out. The store was dark & musty, the staff were grimacing and I found everything to be over priced.

That being said, we did see an amazing pair of hand painted shoes, which were pretty rad. Not my size, but still, pretty cool.

The store was set out nicely, with fashion displays in the window, and everything very neat and organised. It was easy to tell in which area things belonged, but I think that was also because the store is in such a small space.

Maybe if I'm feeling more forgiving next time, I might take a second look.

Pit stop to pee and rehydrate, then off to Vinnies accross the road.



Vinnies Ringwood
2/82 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood
Mon-Sat, 9:00- 5:00pm
Sun, 10:00 - 5:00pm



Upon entering the doors, we were greeted with happy staff, a lovely looking store, and a beautiful display. There was music playing in the background, and many colour coordinated treasures to look at.



We walked around for a bit, and ended up buying more kids clothes for Izzy, my girlfriends daughter, as well as six tea towels and I think a couple of other random things. 

I was so impressed with the layout and organisation of the store, especially the bedding section. Everything was in their own pigeon holes, in bags, all separated by size. It was a sight to behold. In front of the manchester, there was some wooden furniture, such as dining tables and chairs, a buffet, and a wardrobe. The tables were presented nicely, without having piles of stuff on top.





There was plenty of crockery, including, my favourite, tea cups! We have our own little collection at home. I'll share it here one day, if I ever remember haha. Anyway, they had a lot of matching cups and saucers, and even some sets. They weren't the cheapest I've ever seen, but it may be because of the label? Not knowing much about fancy tea sets, I couldn't tell you for sure.



I was pretty happy with the store, they don't always have the best prices, but it's a nice store to be in, has a good vibe if you know what I mean. It was easy to navigate around and had a fair amount of stock to sort through.

Right, now we've been out and explored Ringwood, we'll be going around to more of my local suburbs to see what their op shops have to offer.
If you have any suggestions of where we should go, comment down below (I'm a poet and didn't even know it!).

I'd like to also head out to different sales and markets to see what's on offer, so even if it's out of my comfort zone, like wedding or baby expos, let me know anyway, if I have time I'll head over and see what's what!

Much love,

Jayde xx