Shopaholic Goes Abroad (Shopping in Melbourne)

Member Name: kirstymack80

Product:	Shopping in Melbourne
Date:	12/05/05 (1651 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, lots of bags to carry home, great bargains

Disadvantages: heavy suitcase, you have to come home

My best friend lives in Melbourne – she is an Aussie and proud of it. We’ve known each other for ten years and since 1999 have seen each other every year, sometimes more than once. Now and again she’ll come to ole Blighty but more often than not I’ll go to her beautiful country.

Melbourne gets a bit of a rough ride. When you think of Australia and shopping I guess most people automatically think of Sydney. But Melbourne has so much to offer. There are less people, it’s more modern and the shops … well they rock! So let’s get down to business. What’s Melbourne like as a shopper's paradise?

* The city *

Melbourne Central has recently opened. As its name suggests, it’s a train station with a mini mall attached. There are familiar names such as French Connection and Accessorize and a few other independent clothes shops. We also found a really good Thai restaurant here for when your feet are weary and your hands are full and there’s an extremely tempting chocolate shop there called Max Brenner which smells divine!

The main city centre boasts many chains including HMV, Myer, Sportsgirl and again, French Connection. Myer is a big department store which sells men’s and women’s clothing as well as bedding, books, jewellery and cosmetics. They quite often have sales on where they reduce everything – sometimes up to 70% off! I’ve been there in January when they’ve reduced their Christmas decorations and cards up to 90% off believe it or not! Have you ever seen a bargain like that in the UK? Nah … thought not!

* Cheap and cheerful *

My favourite shop is (sadly) K-Mart. Not only does it have the same initials as me, but my love affair started when we lived in the good ole US of A many moons ago. When my friend told me K-Mart is alive and well in Australia, this KM was overjoyed. It’s one of those bargain type shops that sells everything from cosmetics to clothes to dvds, cds, photo frames, homewares, books and sweets. Again they have one day sales where you can get chart cds with a further 15 or 20% off, and to add to your shopping delight they also have machines where you can have fun scanning the barcode before you go to the till (sometimes things are priced even cheaper than they are marked)! I got some practically free socks for 50 cents last month!

* Market *

The well known Victoria market is a must see if you’re visiting Melbourne. This runs on Saturdays and Sundays when all kinds of tourist stuff is sold along with sweets, toys, clothing and bags. This is a good place to get those pressies for back home. I bought a jade bracelet and you can usually haggle with the guys and they’ll knock some money off for you. Actually I didn’t do anything – just smiled sweetly.

There’s also a good array of home made soaps and lots of fake goods such as Von Dutch tshirts (which looked suspiciously small!). Sometimes there’s even a few camels out the front if you so wish to ride one. I didn’t.

During the summer months there’s a night market here on Wednesdays, which is really enjoyable. It sells slightly different goods, mostly the arts and crafts side of things and I bought some really lovely black and white pictures of Melbourne city by a local photographer a couple of years ago. There’s also a large range of foods to be partaken, including yummies from all over the world. There’s curries, noodles, corn on the cob, a great vegetarian selection and my personal favourite – Dutch pancakes. These are tiny pancakes that are cooked for you on the spot and ladled with your choice of filling and oodles of cream. There’s enough for two people for sure unless you’re feeling very greedy!
This stall is easily spotted as there's always a huge queue around it. They're very popular!

* Crown Casino *

Ahh yes the Cas. Well you don’t want to throw your hard earned cash into the ‘pokies’ do you? Thought not. Well in that case, walk past the slot machines and head for the designer shops! Here there’s Versace, Prada, Guess and French Connection among others.

You don’t have to be loaded – OK so I just gaze in the windows thinking “One day …” but Armani Exchange is always worth a looksie. KM got a bargain pair of trousers here for around £8 a couple of years ago. Again, they have some pretty good reductions so you don’t necessarily have to be loaded to go in there!

Located in the South Bank area of the city. Tram stops nearby.

* Bridge Road *

This is about 10 minutes away from the city centre and is another of our favourite haunts! Bridge Road boasts small outlets. It’s literally two sides of a street and won’t take you long to get around. There are plenty of food places to stop for a coffee or bite to eat including ‘The Baked Potato Café’ (try the Aussie Spud!). Shops here include Esprit, Country Road, The Witchery, Accessorize and Nine West, all at a fraction of the cost. Stock is usually last season but you can find some real bargains.

Located in Richmond.

* Chapel Street *

A trendy shoppers paradise very close to Bridge Road, this is slightly more upmarket and therefore more expensive. But a great place to people watch and spend a few hours.

* DFO *

This is a long way out but if you have a car, well worth a look. DFO stands for Direct Factory Outlets and again one can usually find a bargain or three here! There’s a Levi’s store, Nine West, MNG, numerous shoe shops and many shops selling home wares. The only thing I would say about DFO is there isn’t a great choice of eating places here, although my friend and I did find a very decent coffee house that sold home made cake!

Located in Cheltenham.

My friend informs me also that there’s another DFO being built as we speak about 10 minutes outside of the city, making this a much better prospect as the current one is around an hour’s drive away from her home. Let’s hope it’s ready when I go back next year!

* Tips *

If you plan on buying cds or dvds in Melbourne (bearing in mind Oz has region 4 dvds) don’t buy them in HMV or a department store. Target and K-Mart will have them cheaper for sure.

If you want postcards or souvenirs, try Victoria market. Likewise if you want to take some macadamia nuts back for anyone, get them measured out at the market at the nut stall. If you buy them in a department store they stick them in a huge fancy box and add on about $10!

* Do * take a bottle of water with you if you’re out for the day shopping. In January time it can get very hot and you don’t realise how much walking you’re doing.

Sizing for women is slightly different. I’m a size 10 in England but can easily fit into a size 8 there. The shoes are similar sizing as the US – a size 5/38 is around a size 8 in Australia. It’s always best to try anything on – the fitting rooms tend to be individual and you can quite often just walk in one without having to be ‘checked in’.

* Other info *

Credit cards are widely accepted. The Aussies have one card for debit * and * credit so once you hand your card over to the cashier you’ll be asked “Credit or savings?” – for a credit card you still have to use your signature but the debit uses the CHIP and PIN.

The price on the tag is what you pay. There are no extra taxes added on. In fact there are no coppers in Australia so if something is $19.99 you’ll be charged $20 but if it’s $19.97 you’ll get 5 cents change!

A few of the shops check your bags on the way out. I found this a bit disconcerting at first but for those shops that don’t have the electronic tags, this is just their way of making sure you don’t slip anything into your bag on the way out! Normally it’s just a case of opening a carrier and showing the person on the door. It’s very friendly but a bit off putting at first! This is usually done in Target and K-Mart, not the bigger stores.

Aussie exchange rate remains rather favourable – around 2.4 to £1 at the moment so most things are a bargain. However books are not! They work out to around £8 for a best seller so best to stock up on them via Ebay or charity shops before you get on the plane!

* Finally *

There are some great bargains to be had in Melbourne – especially the January sales. The malls are large, the selection is huge and the exchange rate must be taken advantage of! If you are planning on doing a lot of shopping, do watch the weight that’s going in the suitcase. I got busted for extra baggage at the airport on the way back and I’m still smarting from it. (Told you I was a shopper – hmph!). It’s $40 for every kilo you’re over so check with your airline and see what your allowance is.

Above all, enjoy!

Thanks for reading.

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