A Rainy Afternoon Thrifting on South Main
It was yet another rainy fall Vancouver weekend. What’s different about the rain here versus in Ontario is that the people here are so accustomed to it raining almost all the time that it really doesn’t hinder their day’s plans. In fact, Vancouverites are so used to the rain that in pretty well every here there is an umbrella holder located near the entrance to house shoppers’ umbrellas whilst they browse and shop. When we decided to move to Vancouver for the fall people went “really?” because they knew that Ali and I would be arriving right in time for rainy season. If I’m being honest, I really don’t mind the rain. The only time I dislike rain is when it’s cold out, but the temperature here has been consistently hanging around 12 degrees Celsius, which has been perfect for walking the city as well as for running. Ali and I put on our rain jackets, grabbed our umbrellas and embarked on an afternoon exploration of Main Street, Vancouver. We had multiple recommendation to walk south along Main for a fantastic variety of eclectic thrift stores, gift shops, and good food. I would equate Main to the Queen Street West of Vancouver, if you’re at all familiar with Toronto. We started our adventure at the intersection of 2nd and Main and walked south until East 18th then looped back around and did the other side of the street. Before heading home on the bus we had a delicious dinner at Sing Sing Beer Bar, another recommendation we received. The food was delicious, the atmosphere was fun, and the cocktails were also very delicious. I do love a boujee cocktail from time to time I will admit.
I love to go thrifting and few things bring me more joy than a great thrifted find, I take a lot of pride in my thrifted finds. Ali and I were both very happy with how our day panned out and loved the shops that we stumbled upon on South Main. Below I have outlined some of my favourite stops that we made today and some of the fantastic thrifts that I found (they’re just too good not to share).
Rewind Resale
This was the first store that we ventures into and we certainly weren’t disappointed! Rewind Resale has a really interesting business model; clients/customers can bring in their clothing items that they are no longer using and receive 30% of the list value upfront. I love stores that have models like this because it encourages the extension of a piece of clothing’s life and gives people a chance to earn a bit of money off of their pre-loved clothing. The clothing is of course inspected to make sure there are no issues (loose threads, stains, etc) before being sold. From this spot I scored a classic 1980s Dale of Norway sweater, a fun cardigan with red and white stars, and a pair of Adidas Stan Smith sneakers (pictured above). The Stan Smiths were actually in the men’s section, but they were a 6.5 which transfers to my exact size in women’s shoes (an 8).
Cream Mint Florist
Ok, so this isn’t a thrift store, but it is still worth noting here. I am a sucker for a good florist, or really any store with a great selection of plants and fresh flowers. I just really love the fresh smell of a florist. If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, visit your local florist and you’ll see. Florists, in my experience, always have this wonderfully fresh, crisp smell and I absolutely love it. Anyway, I digress. Unfortunately I can’t exactly bring a bunch of plants back in my suitcase with me, but man if I could I would have gone crazy in here!
Much & Little
Again, not a thrift store, but worth noting. Much & Little had a wonderful selection of sustainable home goodies, clothing and jewelry, stationary, books and skincare products. This store was right up my alley and I definitely could have spent half my life saving here, but I had to restrain myself because my (already overweight) suitcase can only hold so much. I settled on a card that I can add to my photo wall when I get back to Ontario.
Bohemian Gallery Inc
Back to the theme of this post, Bohemian Gallery is a thrift shop. If you’ve ever gone thrifting in Kensington Market, Toronto, this particular store reminded me a lot of Courage My Love on Kensington Avenue. Ali and I briefly chatted with one of the buyers who was working the floor and told us how there are four buyers with different styles who source all the pieces for the store. The result is a wonderfully eclectic collection of merchandise. This is where I had my greatest thrifting finds of the afternoon. I walked out of the store with a classic 1980s Roots Canada leather jacket and a beautiful silk scarf that I plan to use as a scarf top.
Turnabout
Although I did not purchase anything here, this is a great place to find pre-loved high end designer clothing for a reduced price. They had a wide variety of items and brands ranging from Aritzia to Gucci, Burberry and the likes. There was a vast selection of dress pants and formalwear which would make this a great place to purchase an outfit for a special event at a lower cost.
As with our adventure in Tofino (read about it here), we really only just scratched the surface of this area. There is definitely so much more to see and do here than we accomplished this weekend, I have just highlighted the placed that we did venture into. Well, that concludes my weekend adventure. I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and are having an equally wonderful week wherever you are!
xx
Ashley
[…] colleagues. Located on Main St, we sat in for dinner, and a drink for me, after our afternoon of thrifting on Main. Sing Sing is a a beer, pho, and pizza joint, which sound like three things that wouldn’t […]