Nanaimo Closure, or Consolidation - Nanaimo Hospice Society

We went to Nanaimo today and stopped by some of our favorite thrift shops.  The highway from the ferry heading north is a favorite as there are 3 shops very near the highway and all on the same side (working well if headed north).

The first shop, of the Nanaimo Hospice Society, that we went to revealed to an empty premise.  We hadn't been up here since the beginning of the year so it was a shock.  No sign, nothing.  We went to the other shop on Bowen Road and asked if the original shop had closed, and indeed it had.  The Bowen Road shop is now slightly bigger.

Auction

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing through some local resale website and chanced upon a posting by the Salvation Army in Nanaimo.  The two stores hold auctions every couple of weeks and people go bid on them.  By chance, I saw a coffee pot in a pattern that my wife started on just a few weeks ago, spurred on by a stack of plates for $1 (1/2 price) at the New West hospital auxiliary store.  This pattern is rare as we've only seen a few pieces in visits to dozens of thrift stores in the past few weeks.

So we made  a bid on a trip to Nanaimo and went it to buy it today (no one else bid on it).  Interesting system as they're trying to eliminate false bids and other rigging systems.  You need an ID slip these days!

Beautiful item 114 - Scraffito by Meakin

Stopped at the Ladysmith freestore on the way back but it was bare....

A few "new" ones in Duncan, Parksville and Nanaimo.

Visited a few thrift shops that I've known about but openings times haven't coincided with our visits.

West of Duncan on Gibbins Road - a few hundred meters past the hospital - is Duncan Seventh Day Adventist church's thrift shop.  This one is hard to visit as it is rarely open, just Thursdays and 2nd and 3rd Sundays of the month from 11-15.  It is run by volunteers, small but well organised has interesting items at very good prices.  Lots of lot parking.  Proceeds go to local and international aid.

In the old part of Nanaimo on Fitzwilliam Street at Wallace is the St. Andrew's United Church shop. Located in the basement, it also volunteer-run.  Small.  Free lot parking.  Only open M, W, Th 0930-13.



On the south end of Parksville on the old highway, at the strip mall just north of the 1st set of traffic lights is the Second Chance thrift shop where proceeds go to assist rehabilitation and community  reintegration of people with brain injuries. Lots of nice collectibles here as they have partnered with a estate sale/clearance business.  Very good prices for china sets.  Free lot parking.  Only open W-Sa.