Melbourne Shopping Tips by xuessium

Every Oz city devotes a street or 2 just for the sake of folks who want to exercise their shopping muscles. In Melbourne: It's Bourke Street.

Here you will find everything under the shopping sun, focused around Bourke Street Mall: Boutiques, departmental stores (David Jones & Myer), bookshops, shoe stores, cafes, CD stores....everything money can buy tangibly.

Traffic, aside from trams could not enter the street, so pedestrians can claim the street most of the time. At the time of my last visit, lovely tulips were blooming in the flower beds lining the street, adding a touch of Continental European charm. Watch out for the presence of artistic statues as well. Layout-wise, possible one of the best shopping streets in Oz is my personal opinion.

What To Buy: Everything money can buy tangibly.


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Theme: Other
Address: Bourke Street
Directions: Centre of the City

Name of Shop: DFO Spencer Street

An entire mall devoted to factory rejects...oops, I meant direct factory stock. Best place to sniff and dig out the best possible bargains from big brands with savings up to 70%!

Morever, you are doing this in the comfort of a sparkling bright mall with cafes and eateries right next to the Southern Cross Train Station, not some dusty dinghy warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

I actually walked past it twice. Why? Malls? I've seen plenty. I actually entered it seeking toilets! And since I was in it, I thought what the heck, I'll check it out and eventually committed the ultimate crime of contributing to Oz's red hot economy by pumping in a few more Aussie bucks.

What To Buy: Plenty of brands are here: Rivers, JeansWest, Giordano etc. Take your time, plan wisely. You got to. Your credit card could only sustain that much damage.

Trading Hours: Open 7 days 10am to 6pm
Friday: 10am to 9pm
Queens Birthday: Open 10am to 6pm

What To Pay: What much do you have?

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Theme: Other
Directions: Next to Southern Cross Train Station (Spencer Street)
Website: http://www.dfo.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=6&Itemid=51&outlet=Spencer

Name of Shop: Victoria Market

Like the Central Market in Adelaide, this is the 'Central Market" of Melbourne. This is where you can get fresh produces, souvenirs, apparels, local arts and crafts and almost every other thing else in Melbourne.

The Market was officially opened on 20 March, 1878 and has served consumers' needs for more than 125 years and counting. Spread over 7 hectares, it's the largest open air market in the southern hemisphere.

Brought my mum and sis here and let them loose while I sat in a cafe on the outer fringes of the market and enjoyed my coffee and the local papers with some peace & quiet. Plenty of stalls to amuse them. It was not before long the poor suffering son and brother had to do his bit to carry the bags back to the hotel and think of ways on how to stuff the items into the luggage bag!

I like to wander among the stalls too, looking for human scenes to capture on negatives (and now on pixels). Markets are such a wonderful source of human drama.

Opening hours:
Tue & Thu : 6am - 2pm
Friday: 6am - 6pm (General merchandise closes at 4pm)
Saturday: 6am - 3pm
Sunday: 9am - 4pm
Closed every Mon and Wed, Good Friday, Anzac Day, Melbourne Cup Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

NOTE:
- Market is a traditional open-air market, so do wear your warm weatherproof clothing in winter; and
- Dogs are not permitted.

What To Buy: Walk, look and see if anything catches your eyes.

Bargain when necessary...and possibly one of the few places in Australia where you can actually actively bargain.

What To Pay: Usually the listed price but mum & sis had bargained successfully. Women!!

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Directions: Queen Victoria Market is located on the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Streets.
Website: http://www.qvm.com.au/home.php

Name of Shop: Sunday Market at the Arts Centre

Lots of interesting things here: Photographs, trinklets, bags, art works etc, things you may not get commercially elsewhere. Certainly not the run-of-the-mill you-can-see-them-everywhere souvenir grade flea market.

Bumped into it quite by accident on my way to the National Gallery and found it amusing enough to spend some time meandering among the stalls, under the bridge and walkway to the Arts Centre. The stalls spilled upwards into street level as well...snaking their way all the way till you reach the Arts Centre.

If you are looking for something a little more unique and individual to bring home or just want to spend some time looking at interesting creations, this is a stop on your journey around the city on a Sunday.

What To Buy: Whatever your wallet/purse could cough up. Some of the stalls accept credit cards.

What To Pay: Whatever your wallet/purse could cough up. Some of the stalls accept credit cards.

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Directions: Walkway towards the Art Centre, south of Flinders Street Station and opposite Federation Square.

Name of Shop: Chadstone Shopping Mall

When recent reports of "uncontacted" tribes surfaced, Aussies must have forgotten about the lost tribe of Chadstone for this is a mall that you can easily lose yourself in for an entire day.

With more than 400 stores selling an Universe of things coming with price tags, it is reputed to be the largest shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere. Eat that South Africa. Take that Brazil. Sock it Argentina.

Shopaholics - raise your arms and rejoice. Your pleas have been answered. The Messiah has arrived. This is YOUR Mecca.

I arrived on a public holiday. People people people. Herds herds herds. Mercy has upon me.

I'm glad I was here. I could finally be proud to be say I was in "Chadstone". (It's "Chad-stern", not "Chat-stone")

I could now go back to jumping down towers and paragliding off cliffs.
They are much tamer.

What To Buy: You got a big enough wallet/purse?

What To Pay: Really. You got a big enough wallet/purse?

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Directions: To get here: To Chadstone. Free shuttle from the City too.
Website: http://www.chadstoneshopping.com.au/home/

Name of Shop: Warehouse sale: Dirt Cheap Books!

OK, they sold me. When you blast enough advertisements on TV, someone got to be intrigued enough. And I am that "someone".

3 books for A$10. Now, that got to be a sale!

My mate drove and we managed to locate the warehouse - a large dull yellow building parked by a busy intersection. 2 floors worth of books, with CDs as well. Most of the softcovers, covering fiction and non-fiction are at a price of A$5 each and 3 for A$10. The hardcovers go for A$10 and above, though still way cheap compared to its original price.

Now, don't expect the latest titles. It is afterall, a warehouse sale. But dig deep enough, I am sure you will find something.

NOTE: This sale pops up now and then. It is NOT continuously running. To check if the sale is available, write to the email address given below. The location given below is not the only venue. They also have the same sale at another 2 locations: Airport West and Geelong.

What To Buy: I couldn't find many offerings on travelogues and the travel guides are WAY too backdated. But the cookbooks are quite alright, as well as the standard coffee table books.

What To Pay: From A$5 each, 3 for A$10 for softcovers. Hardcovers go from A$10.

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Theme: Books
Directions: Intersection of Johnson Street and Hoodle Street, Collingwood.
Other Contact: em: dirtcheapbooks3@gmail.com