Ishka

At first glance this shop reminds me of that crazy hippy aunty we all have. Where the hell does she get those clothes? Those crazy ornaments around the house? Oh, I get it now. She finds them at Ishka.
Don’t get me wrong. I love me a giant cement buddha as much as the next person, it’s just sometimes they can look a bit tacky. Luckily Ishka stocks more than just the bogan-​buddha statues, they also have some beautiful timber furniture, bookshelves and one-​of-​a-​kind artworks.
They also stock a wide range of clothes — think flow-​y, summery dresses that your ma would have worn to Woodstock — and a wide variety of candles and incense.
They have an AMAZING sale once a year where places are literally cut in half, so unless you’re super keen for that statue, I would recommend you wait around until that.

If you’re a fan of Ishka then you’ll love this one. It’s about three, four, no, ten times larger than the others. In fact i think it may be their warehouse store judging from the huge space out the back, full of boxes. They also have more discounts and markdowns than some of their regular stores.

Unlike the other Ishka shops around, the premises on Nicholson Street is more of a warehouse, and as such you get a bigger choice and much better discounts in store.
Although you get a huge range of hippie-​esque clothes, jewellery, homewares and other bits and bobs, this store is more about the furniture.
The hardwood bookshelves, buffets and tables of all sizes aren’t to everyone’s taste (think heavily decorative, some painted with florals and lots with a strong eastern flavour) but if you hunt you can get some simple, classic designs. When I first moved to my current house, I bought two dark wood bookshelves and matching sideboard (that I use as a TV unit) from this Ishka, and people constantly ask if I got them from one of the overpriced vintage industrial stores on Elgin Street. The best bit is because I was buying so many items, I got extra discount off the sale price (actually, I got two levels of discount of the already sale price — one for buying so much, and one for signing up as a ‘Karma Card’ holder). Ishka also arranged delivery which was fantastic. The only downside is that I get frequent text messages about sales for Karma Card holders, but I can bare it for the money I saved!