Antique Alley

This is actually one of my favourite antique stores I’ve stumbled into around Auckland. It’s pretty great. They have so much stuff crammed in there it’s crazy, but it’s all really interesting things Some stuff gets rather pricey (the old jewellery, which is really pretty) but I managed to score a giant tassel for 10 bucks. Wooh! I made it into a neck lace and totally wear it… looking like a boss. They’ve got lots of little trinkets and old tins in heaps of different sizes. It’s always good to know where you can find a tin when you need one… they’re good for present boxes I reckon. They sell furniture as well but I was too preoccupied with all the exciting «others» that I didn’t really inspect. The staff are nice and friendly though, I think they ones that work there also own the business.

Looking for a birthday gift, I headed down to Antique Alley to see if they stocked the type of ring that I was looking for. It was a golden ring with a row of small coloured gems. It needed to have a ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond, and they needed to be lined up and just the right size.
An old tray of antique rings was presented, and I was surprised to find a few examples similar to my request. I ummed and ahhed, and eventually brought a silver ring. But the proprietor did point me in the right direction, and he did liberate me of several of my hard earned green ones via the sale of several aged pots.
Antique Alley is a browser’s dream, and you can easily look for hours, for things you didn’t even know existed.

Such a fan of this place! I only just discovered it last week and was shocked I hadn’t heard more people raving about it. It is a little treasure chest, and quite organised if I may say so. Usually the contents of an antique shops are strewn here there and everywhere sometimes even flooding the floors (borderline hoarding I say). But Antique aLley is organised with its items and because of this it feels like a little wonder space stepping back in time rather than feeling claustrophobic.
I came here for work — we had to source some items for an event we were running and the lovely staff at the Antique Alley advised us of the renting option which was awesome. We were there for a good two hours throughout the day and left with an abundance of things. I even bought some stuff for myself — you just cant help it in there.
It is definitely worth a visit — I will be going back for sure.

This is the old man of the Valley Road part of Mt Eden, having been around since 1971. I remember it having a reputation for being grossly overpriced and the service a little, shall we say, sharp. David Brettell was quite the character and of course the collectors still came.
The younger family members now run the shop (and used to be my mum’s neighbours) and happily the pricing is more realistic. There’s still the appointment-​only furniture shop next door which always has some lovely pieces but for scavenger shoppers like me, the treasures are in the overflowing main shop. There’s a lot of china, silverware and glassware but you’ll also find trunks, artworks, costume jewellery, buttons and random objects.
What’s really great about Antique Alley is that it’s not an op-​shop pretending junk is special stuff. It DOES have special stuff. To me it’s an Auckland icon and embodiment of what a «proper» antiquities shop should be.