CARITAS kleider Asylstrasse 94 (Kreis 7)

Asylstrasse 94, before opening in early-mid June 2014

When I arrived at the Asylstrasse CARITAS, a few minutes before 10AM on a Thursday, I really thought I'd found another CARITAS where I could browse in solitude during the opening hour! There was no one in sight, and I was standing a little back from the front of the shop to give the employees space to set-up the outside display.

Pretty, quiet neighbourhood

Love the rose bushes outside the front door!

But then, even as the shoes were still being arranged on the outside windowsill, some rude and pushy old bag shoved past the store clerk and admitted herself. Sigh. Again, this just doesn't sit well with my Canadian up-bringing! (Where's the fire, lady?! Cripes, what's your hurry?!).

And two other ladies arrived (all in their late 40s or early 50s) right around 10:00, too (in a reasonable and friendly fashion, I should note). This made the smallish store a little less thrifting-Nirvana-eque than I'd like. (I'm spoiled, aren't I?!). ;) Ah well. I still managed to buy a tank top and a pair of shorts (5 Fr. and 15 Fr. respectively), and I think two of the ladies went straight for the purses and then left soon after (I think I heard someone making a purchase, but I was pre-occupied with photography and shopping!).

Men's wear to the left of the entrance and cash desk

Stupidest change room in the whole city - room for two, but it's just one room! Please hang a dividing curtain or put in a folding screen as a divider! Ridiculous!

Some books, etc. in the breezeway

Whoops, Ms. Pushy made her way into this shot. I liked the centre display table in the far room - it was a good use of space, I thought!

Probably should have tried it on to be 100% sure, but I loved this too-small dress so much! Sigh. C'est la vie.

Bright, clean and airy - it's a very nice store (albeit with a smaller selection than many of the other CARITAS's). Kicks Oerlikon's butt for sure, though, in terms of 'pleasantness of shopping experience'!

I liked how they arranged their scarves and shawls on the little hangers - nice for browsing! You don't have to take them off or make a mess to really get a good look at them. Also, I like this light fixture!

Some of the nicest second-hand handbags I've seen in Switzerland, fairly priced (was tempted by the saddle-style bag (brown, upper right), but couldn't justify the purchase). :p

I'm just going to jump right into the pros, cons and tips for Asylstrasse:

Pros:

• Pretty neighbourhood (Römerhof, Englischviertel) and a tram stop right outside the shop
• Nicely decorated, tidy boutique-style store
• Good selection of quality handbags (i.e. they're not small price tags, but a good deal regardless)
• Quirky and enjoyable displays on tables
• Has a few books (some in English) and the odd tasteful knick-knack - cute store!
• it's CARITAS - a great cause and the staff are always nice (well, usually!). And you can pay with plastic, too!

Cons:

• Not much else shopping-wise in the nearby area (though admittedly I didn't look too hard), and a little out of my way being outside of the city-centre
• I thought I could hop over to TIGEL easily from here, but the trams don't easily connect 
• More competition than I expected on a Thursday morning at 10AM!
• Not a terribly great selection, because of the limited floor-space (though it makes good use of what it has)
• Change-room is a major failure. You'd think, looking at it, that there would be two separate areas. But there's just one - one HUGE area. And the young man working there (helping his mom?) accidentally walked in on me while I was changing (to be fair, he was probably like 14 or 15 and was just developing 'common sense', like when the change-room curtain is closed, one should assume that someone's in there and look for feet before opening it!). The accidental walk-in I can handle, but the gross waste of space when you could have TWO rooms with a single partition...! Unforgivable! ;)
• Usual 3-garment limit in the change room. Which means I usually have to put back 2 items and never bother trying them on - pretty sure this policy is costing more money than it is saving with stolen merchandise! (Seriously, how many people actually steal things from charity shops? And if people do, are they the sort of people who will heed the '3 garment maximum' limit sign anyway?! I seriously doubt it!). Stupid, stupid, stupid. Maybe I'll get really cross one day and get a petition started to raise the max to 5! Or I'll just tell the lady at the desk that I'm taking in more than three with me. 
• Shoes are over-priced here as well. I could rant about this forever - 3 Fr. shoes at 'cheap' CARITAS that are rarely worth buying (but a total steal if they are!), and then 30 Fr. shoes at all the other CARITAS's... the price gap is too great! Where's the common sense middle-ground?! 5 to 15 Fr. would move a lot of stock fast, I'd bet!

Tips:

• Google says it's closed on Saturdays, but it isn't. (New opening hours came into effect 1 June - not sure what was different before).
• Go straight for the handbags (on wall at near right when you enter - glass shelves) if you're in the market - though be warned that you may have competition!

Hölderlinstrasse is the nearest tram stop - right across the street, or just 10m uphill from the store!

Best of luck out there, fellow thrifters! Be kind, and don't be rude like Ms. Pushy (who knows, you may find yourself disgraced on a thrifting blog, ha ha!). ;) Just kidding.

TiZ

CARITAS Reitergasse 1 - NEU!

How is it that everything CARITAS puts out (websites, business cards, shopping bags and ads) is so cool?!

 On the bus today, I saw this:

And I was reminded that the new 'Concept Store' of CARITAS on Reitergasse is now OPEN!

On a personal note, I was very pleased to make the acquaintance of someone through a colleague of mine who works for CARITAS as a social worker consultant. CARITAS does wonderful, essential humanitarian work - I'm so happy to support their causes! :)

So I simply had to go...! 
 

Reitergasse 1, a block or two in from the Sihlpost tram stop.

I must say that I was a little disappointed with the secondhand "Concept" store. A couple was shopping in there already when I arrived, and even with just two other people the tiny store became quite crowded.
 

Not a very large store at all!

Also, the 'change-room' consists of tri-fold screens that the ladies in the shop help you arrange for modesty's sake. The poor woman who used the 'change-room' managed to knock all of the screens over at once and also the screen used as a wall to the office area. I felt badly for her - she was embarrassed, but really it wasn't her fault! I hope the staff build a proper curtained area soon. I'm sure they're motivated to come up with a better solution as well!

The shop had two long racks of ladies' wear, a dresser that had kids' and babies' clothing in it (but also pots, plates and bowls and other miscellaneous items), and shoes were kind of all over the store.

Speaking of shoes, I saw a pair from 'expensive' CARITAS on Birmensdorferstrasse that had been transported over here. They were still over-priced for the amount of wear, alas.
 

I like these stylish suede shoes (I liked them at the other store, too!), but not enough to shell out 45 Fr.

There was men's wear as well, though not much. I think the best deals were some of the framed paintings and artwork - some of them were reasonably attractive, and at 35 Fr. or so for a very large, glass-framed print in good condition, they became even more tempting.
 

I didn't buy a single thing. These tuxedo shorts were cute, but I was too afraid to try the 'change-room screens of doom'!

They also were selling a blue-glass soda-water dispenser (looked old, but in perfect shape), but it was 'correctly' priced for its condition and rarity (so.... not in my price-range!). They had a jewelry display case as well, but there wasn't anything that tempted me this time. It was hard to take photos because the store was so small and the racks and cases so tightly arranged!

The grocery store is at the corner, the thrift shop entrance to the left and the KulturLegi entrance is to the right.

CARITAS Reitergasse has a food market as well, but I wasn't sure if it was for everyone or just people with the KulturLegi card. I guess I should have inquired. ;) It was a small grocery shop that had lemons on special and other fresh produce. The store boasted low prices - if I lived nearby, I would check it out.

edit: 24 June - I did a bit of reading/translating, and I think the CARITAS Markt is strictly for those who are under-advantaged, on social benefits, or struggling to make ends meet. A lovely idea.

The offices for the KulturLegi programme are also in this one building (if you're under-employed or under-paid, you can qualify for this money-saving programme).

Sihlpost is the nearest tram stop (#3, 14). And 14 goes to Werd, home of the three Birmensdorferstrasse CARITAS's.

All in all, I have to say that I was underwhelmed by the Reitergasse Concept Store! Here are few the Pros, Cons, and Tips I've come up with:

Pros:

• it's CARITAS - you can't go wrong supporting them! Friendly staff here, too (as friendly as the Im Viadukt location!)
• this secondhand store might get the odd treasure in the future - I certainly suspect that they're going for a more 'up-market' / trend-savvy clientele in this thrift store.  The blue glass soda dispenser and the framed art were quite cool.
• If you live in the neighbourhood and the CARITAS food market is a good and cheap option for you, then you can very easily and quickly pop your head into the thrift shop next door to make sure something great hasn't just recently arrived!
• close to a tram shop (though all CARITAS's are easily accessible by transit)

Cons:

• the thrift store is too small
• the change-room is currently a klutz's worst nightmare: it's just free-standing floor screens!
  
• limited selection because of small size of store
• currently, some of the stock has been taken from other CARITAS's to help flesh out the store (hopefully with new donations the selection will improve!)
• location is kind of in the middle of nowhere

Tips: 

• Don't go out of your way to check this place out, unless you're already at Sihlpost or on Militärstrasse. That being said, the #14 tram stops here and on Birmensdorferstrasse, which is 'CARITAS central' with its 3 shops within a block. So you could hit up 4 CARITAS secondhand stores with one tram line fairly quickly, if you were so inclined.

That's about it for me on Reitergasse! Can't say I 'recommend it'... I doubt I'll be back there anytime soon, unless I happen to already be nearby.

TiZ