New Places to Visit in Dunedin

There are two places I want to visit this year - Swaye, Resale Boutique, 11 Mailer Street Mornington and Purple Rain, Princes Street. If you are reading this and you are new to Dunedin and want to explore the op shops, don't wait for the student magazine to run a review, or the otago daily times to feature, read my list and get exploring!!

I spent an afternoon scouring the clothing opshops of Dunedin in the holidays and covered the following:

SFS Op Shop (South Dunedin) If you are walking this one is quite a hike. However if you have a car you can start at this store and then drive the length of Prince Albert Rd/Kind Edward Street and enjoy all the op shops. This particular store is small but imaculatly clean and tidy. Prices are fair.

Salvation Army (Princes St, South Dunedin and North Dunedin stores) the Princes St store is my favourite - where I found my $5 ukulele and my $5 embroidered picture of Knox Church. I am not going to lie to you, I think the South D store is overpriced, but there is a lot of stuff in drawers towards the front which could be worth looking at if you like haberdashery, accessories, handbags etc. Sometimes, sadly, there is a bit of an odour in this store. The North D store is small and crowded but had an excellent selection of sewing patterns. Again I thought the prices were a bit high, but there was a lot of trendy modern stuff which would appeal to some.

St Vincent de Paul (South Dunedin and George St stores) George St One of my faves as I love the old ladies which work in this place. This charity also gives out food parcels and clothing parcels. I personally donated a whole bootload of stuff there just after Christmas. I have bought some real treasures here and visit 2 or 3 times a week. Not everyone's cup of tea tho! The South D store is not quite the same atmosphere but a nice store all the same.

Orphans Aid International (Hillside Road) this store is fairly new and well organised. Only visited once so its hard to say how successful this place will be. It is however well advertised with a facebook page and listing in the yellow pages.

SaveMart - the vintage retro items are now on the ground floor at the back in the far right corner. This is the Mother of all op shops in Dunedin and I recommend plenty of time to look through all the items. It is very well organised. Only criticism is that the lighting is bad.

Hospice Butterflies Shop (Hanover Street) Another of my all time faves but it is small and crowded and can get a bit claustrophobic if there are very talkative people in there. You'll see what I mean when you go there.

Red Cross (St Andrew Street) Very clean and tidy store. Well laid out. Good quality things which are clean and fair prices.

Yellow Presbyterian Op Shop (St Andrew Street) - great $1 specials in this store. This store is frequented by some real characters - be prepared to elbow other customers out of the way!

Refind Rig - lovely store with a selection of pre-loved items amongst lovely new things which are out of my price range. Fab selection of accessories and jewellry too. Look out for the $9.95 rack out the front.

Recycle Boutique - I have got some great bargains here but wonder how great their system is...I dropped off a bag load of stuff last week and have yet to hear/read an email about it.