The new Australian Red Cross Superstore recently opened up next door to my favourite St Vinnies op-shop, opposite the Findon Library and Shopping Centre. Needless to say, I got pretty excited.
Sadly, while it is undoubtedly enormous, the excess of products doesn't improve the overall quality. The store conforms to the slightly higher prices of Red Cross shops, and there wasn't anything good enough to warrant paying more than I would next door.
They have lot of new clothing, some of which is quite awful - dresses that have the sides cut out of them to be only a bikini top, strip over the belly and a skirt (reminiscent of that horrible fashion of bathers). The second-hand clothing is much more normal, and there is a LOT of it, in women's, men's and children, and for once the latter two sections are fully stocked.
What I really like about this shop is that it colour codes its sections, thus, being a person who only likes certain colours, I can go straight to the green section and avoid all others.
The men's section made me chuckle, because I can see guys being quite happy to beeline to their favourite chunk of colour; for making shopping easier, we thank you Red Cross.
I also enjoy how the whole store is set out neatly and tidily. It has a calming feel about it, appealing to the small voice of OCD inside many of us.
The book corner, while neat and attractive, sadly doesn't have much substance. Half the entire stock is "Adult Fiction" while the rest is just not-so-great fiction. I didn't spot any authors I'm keen on, except a battered Stephen King and a Simone de Beauvoir in the original French.
However, I won't judge too harshly too soon. Op-shops often need time to develop and get in some good stock, so I'll be back in a month or two to check out its development. read more