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