One hot summer afternoon I had a spare 2 hours so decided to check out the Willetton op shop strip (WA) as I love the opportunity to hit several op shops at once. I’d heard that this strip was good, and *spoiler alert* I was not disappointed.
The WIlletton Op Shop strip is located on High Rd, pretty much on the corner of Leach Hwy. There are 5 op shops within walking distance of each other, in two separate blocks of units (listed from furthest distance to closest to Leach Hwy): Salvos Stores, Vinnies, Paraquad Industries, Good Sammy and Save the Children.
Salvos Stores
This was the last shop I visited on my trip, and being on a time limit, I didn’t spend long here. This was no fault of the shop itself as the layout was lovely, the store clean and tidy, and the stock levels were great. I did almost walk away with a very cute yellow floral sun dress, but didn’t like the feel of the synthetic material, so that stayed on the rack.
The definite highlight of this store for me was the super well organised and fun kids section. I literally have never seen a more well organised and curated kids section in an op shop before! So fun and inviting for little ones to be able to see all the toys out on display and not have to dig through bins or tall shelves.
Vinnies
This Vinnies is pretty typical of a Vinnies Store, with the same alternate layout of clothes racks at the front of the store with bric-a-brac and books etc at the rear. Not a huge selection of stock here, but like most other Vinnies, you can tell the stock has been carefully looked over and priced, so you are likely to get a good quality secondhand item.
I was drawn to the display of jewellery and bags towards the front of the store, but only ended walking away with a book and puzzle for my daughter.
ParaQuad Industries
This is one of those stores that is so deceptive from the outside, size wise. I was not expecting it to be so large on the inside! The store is split into clothes and accessories in the front half, and homewares, kids and books in the back.
I was really impressed with the large plus sized section (16+) and did manage to find a couple of items that almost went home with me (red gingham dress, vintage style tee), but I have enough dresses at the moment so resisted! All clothes are also organised by size – which makes browsing so much easier.
I loved that they had taken the time to separate out jars and containers on a table in the bric-a-brac section so you can easily see them all without having to dig through all the other items.
I think the real star of this store and what differentiates it from others is the book and homewares section. This store is also labelled as a Book Bazzar, so it has a really large selection of books at just $2 each, including older format audio books!
There is a pretty substantial selection of art in the store too, and really well displayed so you can easily see everything at once. I was tempted by a few pieces, but hanging art gives me so much anxiety I tend to only buy things that I really really love.
Overall, I really rate this store, and recommend going for a browse if you can.
Good Sammy
Just like Paraquad this store is so sneaky with its size! Good Sammy has recently, within the last couple of years, rebranded and given a facelift to alot of there stores. This one has been painted in the Good Sammy blue on feature walls and it really makes the store seem bright and welcoming. I was really impressed with the large rack of ‘Gold Seal’ items and the gorgeous rainbow display of evening dresses! I didn’t browse the rack and racks of ladies clothes, but there definitely was alot to choose from.
Also like Paraquad, the store is split into a front and back sections. The front is mainly ladies clothes and accessories, with kids, mens, bric-a-brac and furniture in the back section. The furniture section is quite sizeable, and there were
Save the Children
Located a couple of minutes walk towards Leach Hwy from Good Sammy, this smaller store often has new items with tags, on display when I visited were brand new swimwear items from Seafolly. I often find that Save the Children are a little more pricey than other stores, but their stock is often more curated, similar to Vinnies. I managed to pick up a couple of cute little toys for my daughter when we travel, and a work out top for myself.
Closing Thoughts
I really enjoyed my quick browse through the Willetton op shop strip and will definitely be back when I have more time to dedicate to browsing the aisles. My standouts were the kids section at Salvos, and also the large furniture section at Good Sammys. I was really impressed with how well laid out, bright and well stocked the Good Sammys was.
Do you have a favourite ‘op shop strip’ near you? I’d love to go and check it out, let me know in the comments!
