{"id":807655,"date":"2026-07-18T06:10:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/807655\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T06:10:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T06:10:35","slug":"geelong-op-shops-worried-about-arrival-of-savers-megastore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/807655\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong op shops worried about arrival of Savers megastore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pearl Fitton rummages excitedly through her bag of new purchases on the counter of an op shop in Geelong’s northern suburbs.<\/p>\n

“Look at the price on that!” she exclaims, pulling out one of two saucepans with a $2 price tag sticky-taped on.<\/p>\n

Along with the saucepans, there are two pairs of shoes and a colander.<\/p>\n

“I get great bargains and the staff are fantastic,” Ms Fitton says.<\/p>\n

“They help you with what you need.”<\/p>\n

\"Lions<\/p>\n

The Lions Club has an op shop in the Geelong suburb of Corio. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

On this Monday morning, sunshine is streaming into Norlane’s Lions Op Shop, where a handful of customers are peacefully browsing clothes, shoes, homewares and art.<\/p>\n

However, the second-hand retail ecosystem is about to change in Geelong with the arrival of “thrift superstore” Savers.<\/p>\n

The American company will open its first regional Victorian outlet on the Princes Highway in North Geelong on August 27.<\/p>\n

\"exterior<\/p>\n

Geelong’s new Savers store opens in August. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

United States business records show the company employs more than 22,000 people and has more than 360 stores across the US, Canada and Australia.<\/p>\n

Savers’ arrival has divided opinion among op shoppers.<\/p>\n

Ms Fitton is adamant she won’t go there.<\/p>\n

“No, I just shop here,” she says.<\/p>\n

“It’s so good and I’ve picked up some wonderful bargains.<\/p>\n

“I love to come to this op shop.”<\/p>\n

Trading on generosity<\/p>\n

In 2021, the census-based SEIFA (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas) ranked Norlane as the most disadvantaged suburb in Victoria among larger population centres.<\/p>\n

The area has a handful of small op shops that depend on the generosity of donors and volunteers.<\/p>\n

All of the op shops raise money for charities or not-for-profits.<\/p>\n

“We do a lot of emergency relief, especially for immigrant families who come in who haven’t got anything to start with,” Norlane’s Treasures Op Shop volunteer Rowland Bone said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Rowland Bone volunteers at Norlane’s Treasures Op Shop where shoppers pay $5 to fill a bag with clothes once a week. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“We have a program where we help them out with vouchers and then they come in and get all sorts of goods.”<\/p>\n

Treasures is staffed by volunteers from the nearby Norlane Community Centre, where Esther Konings-Oakes is the CEO.<\/p>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Esther Konings-Oakes is worried that Savers will steal customers from op shops that give back to the community. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“We’re run by volunteers and all of the money goes back into the community centre, so it goes right back to locals,” Ms Konings-Oakes said.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t get filtered anywhere else.”<\/p>\n

On two days of the week the shop invites customers to “fill a bag” with clothing from the store for just $5.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Rowland Bone serving a customer at the op shop. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

Money raised goes towards providing free tea and coffee, plants for the community garden and room hire for community groups.<\/p>\n

Ms Konings-Oakes said she was worried Savers’ opening will mean Treasures would not get the same quality and volume of donations.<\/p>\n

She also said she was concerned some locals would not be able to afford to shop at Savers, and that Savers’ revenue would be taken out of the community.<\/p>\n

“The visibility that they have on Melbourne Road means that people won’t really look for the places that are not that highly visible,” she said.<\/p>\n

Glen Little, who has volunteered at Treasures for six months, says Savers can’t offer what customers get at the op shop.<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/p>\n

Glen Little loves helping her op shop customers.\u00a0 (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“They won’t have the community spirit like we do,” Ms Little said.<\/p>\n

She said she loved helping people such as Arthur Powell, who bought a pair of size 13 shoes for $3.<\/p>\n

Mr Powell moved from Melbourne to Geelong and said he would have a look at what was on offer at Savers.<\/p>\n

\"leather<\/p>\n

This pair of shoes sold for $3 at the Treasures op shop in Geelong. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“I’m definitely going to have a browse around to see what’s there for me,” he said.<\/p>\n

“When I was in Melbourne, I did find them good to be honest because I’m an awkward bloke to fit for clothing, you know, size and all that.”<\/p>\n

Op shopper Hannah Ruge said she did not think Savers would affect smaller op shops too much.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Hannah Ruge loves northern Geelong’s smaller op shops and says Savers won’t have a big impact on them. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“[Savers’] prices are much, much higher, so I think it wouldn’t have too much impact on these little op shops because they’re just treasures,” Ms Ruge said.<\/p>\n

Payment details confidential<\/p>\n

At the end of 2024 Savers opened a “boutique thrift” store on Sydney’s Oxford Street, followed by two more stores in Sydney last year as part of its Australian expansion.<\/p>\n

The new Geelong store will be the US-listed firm’s 10th Victorian outlet and as the name “thrift superstore” suggests, it will be big.<\/p>\n

The former Rays Outdoors building in North Geelong has 2,300 square metres of retail space and 65 people will be employed.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the company says its average price per item is less than $10 (averaged across categories) and it will contribute to the community through its business model.<\/p>\n

“Savers accepts donations of clothing and household goods on behalf of our not-for-profit partners and pays them a market-competitive contractual rate for raw, unsorted goods,” Savers Australia managing director Michael Fisher said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Michael Fisher says both op shops and Savers have a role to play. (Supplied: Savers Australia)<\/p>\n

“We do not see this as an either\/or choice between donating to a charity shop or donating through our not-for-profit partners.<\/p>\n

“Both models play an important role in encouraging reuse and diverting useful goods from landfill.<\/p>\n

“Last year alone, we helped divert more than 10 million kilograms of reusable clothing and household items from landfill across our Australian network.”<\/p>\n

Diabetes Victoria is the biggest benefactor in Victoria as Savers’ primary partner, but neither party would say exactly how much money the charity received.<\/p>\n

CEO of Diabetes Victoria Glen Noonan said the details of the charity’s “supply agreement with Savers are confidential”.<\/p>\n

But he said he believed there was room in Geelong for smaller op shops and Savers to co-exist.<\/p>\n

“Given the population in Geelong and surrounds is growing rapidly, we see a place for both donating to charity-run op shops and donating to not-for-profit organisations through Savers,” Mr Noonan said.<\/p>\n

Cost of living affects new generation of shoppers<\/p>\n

Marketing professor at Deakin University Ahmed Ferdous said Savers’ expansion was a sign of the times.<\/p>\n

He predicted the second-hand retail sector would take off in the next five years because of increasing environmental awareness and price pressures, and said Savers opening a store in Geelong made sense.<\/p>\n

\"man<\/p>\n

Ahmed Ferdous says Geelong is a growth market as Victoria’s second-largest city. (Supplied: Deakin University)<\/p>\n

“Geelong is Victoria’s second-largest city and it’s a growth market,” Professor Ferdous said.<\/p>\n

“I think it will be kind of a trial for them. They will expand eventually depending on the success of Geelong.”<\/p>\n

He said other op shops would have to adjust.<\/p>\n

“It will indirectly create pressure on the local op shops, but not overwhelmingly,” Professor Ferdous said.<\/p>\n

“The challenge for local op shops is that they might lose out on the donations.”<\/p>\n

Back at Lions Op Shop in Norlane, volunteer Deborah Westcombe says the new secondhand megastore would affect their donations but would be more expensive.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Lynette Pendleton and Deborah Westcombe volunteer at an op shop in Corio. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

“We keep everything very, very low for turnover to give back to the community so they can enjoy what we receive in donations,” Ms Westcombe said.<\/p>\n

“We have the free table out the front. That’s something they [Savers] don’t have.<\/p>\n

“I stock that full and people love it.”<\/p>\n

At the counter, local Troy Brown has bought a board game, some DVDs and what he calls “a really cool, old picture”.<\/p>\n

“I’ll check [Savers] out, but I do tend to find they’re a bit more pricey,” Mr Brown said.<\/p>\n

“In here, you know the money’s going straight back into the community, rather than some big corporate.”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Troy Brown says he will have a look in Savers but expects it to be more expensive. (ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pearl Fitton rummages excitedly through her bag of new purchases on the counter of an op shop in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,10881,2610,20638,67772,5216,65159,7240,310026],"class_list":["post-807655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-charity","tag-cost-of-living","tag-fashion","tag-op-shop","tag-retail","tag-savers","tag-shopping","tag-thrift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}