<
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/01/a-vinnies-that-never-sleeps-and-an-online-thrift-store-to-rival-asos-op-shops-log-on-to-meet-new-demand>
"Liz Randle wants to know where else you could find a ra-ra dress next to a
pair of pyjamas on a sales rack. She pulls the dress out, and its blue sequins
glitter under the warehouse light.
“Only here,” Randle says, before moving down the next aisle, where TV monitors
sit on shelves next to fluffy rugs, which sit next to outdoor TV projectors,
which sit next to rows and rows of new shoes, all still in their boxes.
The warehouse in Melbourne’s industrial south-east is filled to the brim with
goods Vinnies Victoria is going to sell in its new online store. Workers
meticulously sort through items before they’re photographed, uploaded to the
cloud and put on the website for sale.
They’ve called it the “shop that never sleeps”.
“Our customers have been asking for this for a while,” Randle says. “So we
thought, right, let’s go, let’s get serious about this.”
Over the past 10 years, op shops around Australia have changed. No longer are
they small stores where bargain hunters find $1 bins; now they’re often
stylish, with a high level of visual merchandising. And increasingly, they’re
moving online."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
