Tuesday 23 October 2007

hot bargain

Dear Carlisle Street is blessed (or should that be afflicted?) with some half dozen two-dollar shops. Why is there such a market for cheaply manufactured rubbish in Balaclava? And nothing there ever costs $2. I don’t understand.


Really, I would be quite happy if the two-dollar shops were rationalised down to just, well, two would be plenty. And one of them would definitely be Hot Bargain (corner of Carlisle Street and Woodstock Street, open everyday until about 6:30pm), because it is the one closest to us and because it is our (Tim’s) favourite (it’s his favourite because it’s the one closest to us). I have been known to part with a small gold coin or two there myself in the past – they have a stand with Birch elastic and Güterman sewing thread and basic sewing needles which can really come in handy.

And what could Carlisle Street do with in place of all the rationalised two-dollar shops? I would love to see a second-hand book store, a Medicare office, possibly even another bar with big comfy sofas where we could hold a Balaclava stitch’n’bitch session. There I could work on some knit graffiti (did you see the Good Weekend this Saturday past?). My neighbour has incited me to produce a balaclava (what else?) to adorn the streetscape somewhere. I agreed to do so if she would climb up on the railway bridge and affix it to one of the mermaids in the Lady of St Kilda mural.

Other changes that could be made to Carlisle Street? Oh, don’t even get me started on the Subway.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did see the knit grafitti, even ripped out the page for keeping. Is anyone doing it in Australia?

Di said...

Ahh those two dollar shops are fantastic. I bought all my jam jars in one of them- can't remember which. It is strange that there is such a glut of them there.

Anonymous said...

I went to Hot Bargain and left in tears, after the rude "sales assistant" yelled at me infront of the whole store. I had carefully opened a packet of headphones to see if they'd fit my mp3 player, without ripping or tearing anything. The sales guy yelled at me to stop it. After neatly putting the undamaged packet back on the shelf, and explaining to him that I just wanted to check they were compatible before buying, he rolled his eyes and "shooed" me out of the store like I was a dog who had just pissed in the shop. I was humiliated by his arrogant behaviour and will never go back there again. All the other variety shops on $2 are cheaper, and the staff are much friendler than the arrogant egotist who runs Hot "Bargain".