Winter can mean lean times for many business owners whether they’re second hand/antique stores or not. So some shops listed here on Treasure Hunting choose to hibernate for the coldest months of the year.
The owner of Oasis Oamaru, Greg and Katy use this opportunity to skip winter all together and travel overseas where they do their own treasure hunting to restock their shop.
The owner of Elegantly Waisted shuts up the premise, which used to be the Old Post Office for Temuka, until the weather is warm enough again in Spring. The ceiling height is quite high inside making it very large space to heat so it’s no wonder really.
Other shops you may notice their open hours are shorter with later starts and earlier closing. Many of us would rather be in front of a nice cosy fire at home instead anyway including the shop owners. But perhaps we should make more of an effort to visit second hand shops through winter? Some of them make an extra effort to welcome winter customers, for example the infamous Chertsey Book Barn is known for providing a cup of hot chocolate and chairs to curl up and read a book while you’re there.
Second hand and antique shop owners are always friendly people, most of them choose this livelihood for the contact with interesting people such as yourself. So go and brighten a shop owner’s day by saying hello on a cold winter’s day, better yet find a treasure to buy from them too.
If you notice the open hours on any treasure hunting listings are incorrect due to winter or any other reason, please let us know via the contact us page.
