Hamilton Op Shops to Visit

Hamilton or The Tron as its affectionately referred to is known for The Hamilton Gardens and the Waikato River that winds its way through the city and the stunning walks along the river banks. Hamilton is part of the area known as the Waikato. For those who love to score a second hand bargain it is a bargain hunters paradise with around 26 Op Shops to visit. That number is according to Google Maps, there may be more as I’ve found on previous excursions that not all shops are listed.

Whoops

Erroneously I thought that 26 Op shops to visit in one day was doable but I picked a Saturday for my first visit and some of the shops were closed or had closed for the day by the time I tried to visit. Not to be deterred in a total of three visits I managed to visit a good portion of the 26 Op shops.  If you have followed me for awhile you know that op shopping and upcyling some of those find are a passion of mine but to make it a better trip, I could have planned my day a bit better.

To help you plan your op shopping trip and make it easier to find all the shops I created a list on google maps with all 26 shops. Which you can find here. (Please note if shops don’t keep the Google listing up to date then hours etc may be not correct)

As there are 26 op shops to visit, I’m listing below a few of the ones I loved

Op Shops to Visit

• Grateful Op Shop Frankton – well set out store with a variety of everything with proceeds going to Waikato Womans Refuge. Bright and airy you will find something to take home
• Orphans Aid Op Shop Frankton- Another great shop, well set out with some great displays a little bit of everything from clothing, books, bric a brac and a few vintage finds too
• Hospice Shop Upstairs Lake Road – if you have heard of mega stores then this shop of the Mega store of Op shops. A big store upstairs with a large second hand clothing department. Also linens, crockery, furniture and books some antiques and vintage finds amongst the collections to choose from. Head around the outside of the shop to go to the Downstairs which is more of a bargain basement.
• Habitat Store, Te Rapa – Great selection of everything including plants and another huge store.
• Salvation Army Family Store Victoria Street – Huge shop with a good choice of goods. Bright and airy store
• Hospice Shop Claudelands – Great store variety of goods and not cramped

Whatever you are shopping for you will certainly have your needs meet with such a large number of stores to choose from.

Enjoyment

What do you enjoy about op shopping? I would love to hear. You can also read about my recent road trip which of course was a mixture of op shops and antique shops.

Creations

On my travels I find all sorts of things, some to keep and some to upcycle. These are some of what I have created from found objects.