Op shop hop
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 5, No. 7
12 October - 8 November 2009 ]
A love of op shop fossicking has turned into a healthy business for three Melbourne students. Zoe Nikakis reports.
“I am looking for inspiration” quips Melbourne Op Shop Tour attendee Virginia Mukarakte at the beginning of the company’s recent Mitcham/Nunawading tour.
Other members of the tour group sought clothes, homewares or even old knitting patterns – but when op shopping, the group discovered, it’s all about the un-planned find.
Melbourne Op Shop Tours is the brainchild of three students from the University’s Faculty of Economics and Commerce, Jessica Rae, Richmond Glasgow and Jenny Jiang, who kick-started the nascent business after winning the Undergraduate prize at the Melbourne Business School Entrepreneurial Competition 2009.
“All the feedback convinced us that building it as a business was viable”, Jess explains.
“We got heaps of feedback and constructive criticism that convinced us to change some things.”
The four-hour tours run around Melbourne’s suburbs, taking in six to eight different shops on each tour, alternating between five different routes.
The point of difference for the tours, the team explains, is that it’s about personal service and an alternative shopping experience. “We tend to either get complete op shop fanatics who want to explore shops in new areas, or complete beginners,” says Jenny.
For the complete beginners, the personal nature of the tours is especially helpful, as each tour is capped at 10 participants, which allows for the tour guide to assist each member to hunt out the best pieces, which could be anything from a leather skirt to a vintage suit or a cocktail mixing set.
The limited numbers also means that the tours can run via public transport in line with their environmental values – values which extend to other aspects of the business as well. “Even though it’s a for-profit business we still want those values in what we do – which includes sustainable transport during the tours and not taking commissions from the shops,” Richmond explains.
The idea for the tours grew organically out of Jenny and Jess’ love of op shopping around Melbourne – as seasoned op shoppers they make great guides, helping the less experienced tourers to find good pieces. Richmond brings business experience and another perspective to the project, they comment, though they stress that as a start-up, everyone does everything – “we’re all the PR, marketing, the tour guides, admin, I.T support” says Richmond. “I’m learning to code for the website.”
The tours steer clear of the well-known op shops and vintage stores like Savers and Retrostar, specialising in the shops which are “off the beaten op shop track, so they’re not plundered,” Richmond says.
Getting the business to this point has been a big challenge for the team, especially considering it’s on top of their University studies – Jess is studying Commerce/Law with a Diploma of Indonesian, Jenny Commerce/Law with a Diploma of Chinese and Richmond is completing Commerce/Engineering as well as Honours in Economics – though Jenny and Jess were shocked to discover that their Corporations Law class was incredibly helpful when setting up the business.
“The work/study/life balance is hard because there is an infinite amount of time you can spend on the business and you’re so emotionally invested,” says Jenny.
“But that’s the nature of start-ups, they’re all-consuming,” Jess adds.
It’s also been about minimising outlays in every aspect of the business – from guillotining their own business cards to leveraging friends and family to help with the photo-shoot for the website.
These personal networks are crucial, says Jess. “I give my business card to everyone I meet.”
And it’s working – the tours have been so popular that the team is already looking for more tour guides.
Back at the Mitcham/Nunawading tour (eight op shops later) the attendees compared their finds over lunch – inspiration-hunting Virginia had found a silk scarf and some pants for work, a mother and daughter team were weighed down with knitting patterns and books, and a certain reporter had bought a United Colours of Benetton vest ($2.50), a jug and matching glasses ($6) and is going back for an antique armchair that hadn’t been priced yet.
And if this tour is anything to go by, Melbourne Op Shop Tours has many tours and bargain finds ahead of them.
/ www.melbourneopshoptours.com.au
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