General Store

Lin Stanton started this stall at Salamanca Market in 1982. He ran it until his death in 2020, when he left it to friends. They relaunched in 2021, keeping the secondhand bins alongside new vinyl — jazz, rock, electronic, soul, punk, country — and a shelf of Tasmanian releases. Still Saturdays only, still Stall 226.

Five minutes from Darwin's CBD, Air Raid Records holds the NT's only dedicated physical music store — vinyl, CD, every format — alongside the territory's first non-alcoholic bar and a hire-ready event space. DJ equipment, a jukebox, karaoke rigs: it's a record shop that moonlights as a production house.

A Northbridge furniture showroom and café occupying the same floor space, with HAY, Muuto, Ferm Living and Carl Hansen Søn among the stocked labels. The café — Dine by Arrival Hall — runs alongside the shelving and sofas rather than being sectioned off, which makes browsing feel less like shopping and more like spending time somewhere worth being.

A family-owned art and craft supply specialist serving professionals, students, and hobby artists alike. They stock oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolours, canvas, and stretcher bars, with the added convenience of custom canvas stretching available on-site.

A charming independent bookstore specializing in romance and fantasy literature, nestled in Fyshwick. This cozy haven caters to avid readers seeking their next beloved escape through carefully curated selections. The store also hosts community events like book clubs and workshops, creating a welcoming space for book lovers to connect.

Twenty-five years on William Street, Boffins has built a serious independent bookshop for Perth — stocking everything from Western Australian history and indigenous art to engineering manuals and wine writing. The categories run deep and specific. Staff answer questions by email or phone. Closed Sundays; open every other day until 5:30.

Vlado Borovac has been making the trip to India for over 17 years, returning with bone inlay furniture, hand-carved sculptures and reclaimed timber pieces he sources directly from the workshops that make them. The Norwood showroom on Osmond Terrace also carries rattan made to order from Indonesia. The approach is accumulative rather than matched — pieces that outlast trends rather than follow them.

Matcha bowls arrive from Yokohama via stone-milled tradition — the Sakura Shino Tataki and Ibushi Kinsai both under $60. Alongside ceramics, there are fragrance pouches and cherry blossom incense holders, all sourced from artisans across Japan. On Beaufort Street, it's a quiet argument for slowing down a meal.

Alex Taplin's family-run shop on Jetty Road has been outfitting Glenelg homes for over 15 years. The stock runs from Robert Gordon ceramics and GlobeWest furniture to Seed & Sprout pantry goods and Sunnylife outdoor pieces — the kind of edited range that makes gift-buying genuinely painless. Strong on Australian brands, light on fuss.

A Hobart design store on Macquarie Street, run by Lucy Given, who grew up in Tasmania, spent a working life in interior design across Melbourne, Sydney, London and Florence, and came back to open LUC. in 2013. The floor is her eye: furniture and homewares from the international design canon — Tom Dixon, Vitra, Alessi, Kartell, Herman Miller — alongside Australian names like Dinosaur Designs and Mud. The local thread is Lucasa, LUC.'s own range of homewares, art and objects made by Tasmanian artists and makers — its counterweight to the imported labels, and the reason it reads as more than a showroom.

Leanne started out as a florist before moving into curtains, blinds and interior styling — and Magnolia Leaf, opened in 2021, is where those threads converge. The Payneham Road shop stocks homewares, rugs, cushions, artificial plants, jewellery and baby gifts, with curtain consultations available for those who want to go further than a candle.

A gift shop on Bandjalong Crescent stocking Australian-made homewares, jewellery, fashion and children's goods. Notable for its range of natural body oils — honeysuckle and bergamot, ylang ylang and grapefruit — alongside ceramics, tea towels, gumboots and greetings cards. Free gift wrapping included. The kind of neighbourhood shop that handles most occasions without requiring a trip into town.

A Malvern East homewares shop opened by Nat Wheeler and Kristy Sadlier in 2013, after the pair met at mother's group and bonded over Scandinavian design that wasn't yet available in Australia. The name is Finnish for elephant. The shop sits across cushions, throws, ceramics, art prints, and an in-house line called norsu Studio, alongside an interior design studio operating from the same address. Open seven days. There's also a styled cabin you can stay in to test-drive the look before you buy.

A Fitzroy institution for over two decades, this densely packed record shop is the go-to for punk, post-punk, and experimental vinyl. Knowledgeable staff and hand-written recommendations on every shelf. Known for Punk vinyl, post-punk, experimental music, staff picks. Set in the heart of Fitzroy, Melbourne's creative and countercultural epicentre along Brunswick Street. A destination for music lovers and vinyl collectors looking for curated selections and hidden gems.

On Todd Mall in Alice Springs, Red Kangaroo stocks Australian books with genuine intent — First Nations titles like Tyson Yunkaporta's *Sand Talk* and Tracy Westerman's *Jilya* sit alongside fiction, poetry, and children's books. Small shop, serious range. Orders ship nationally, wrapped carefully and tracked from the outback.

Attached to the State Cinema on Elizabeth Street, this small bookshop leans hard into film, art, architecture, travel, and biography. LAMY pens and Moleskine notebooks sit alongside the shelves. Open late Fridays and Saturdays — sensible hours for somewhere you're likely to arrive after the credits roll.

Kingston's family-owned bookshop on Jardine Street stocks the full range — crime, cookbooks, fiction, memoirs — with a particular lean into children's titles and local Canberra authors. The team also runs book fairs and author visits for schools and early learning centres across the region. Small, independent, and doing the work that keeps neighbourhood bookselling alive.

On Elizabeth Street, the maker stocks an edit that runs from knitwear and kokeshi figures to silver jewellery and vintage clothing. Current picks include Na'maka'oh tees, aclp sun hats, and Hibi incense — a narrow selection that trusts your taste enough not to over-explain itself.

A corner shop on Lansdowne Crescent stocking the kind of things that earn their place on a windowsill: Haws watering cans, Marimekko pencil sets, ceramic sardine trinket dishes, handmade cloches. The Verde Studio line runs to wooden serving boards. Gift wrapping is free, packaging is recycled, and the locals clearly keep coming back.

Graphic designer Adele runs this Patrick Street shop from a narrow Tuesday-to-Saturday window. The stock mixes solid-state cologne, copper measuring sets, sheepskin slippers and denim kids' aprons — practical objects with enough personality to pass as gifts. Small price points (cards from $6.50) make it easy to leave with something.

Julie Willis runs this Sandy Bay shop from a Georgian terrace on Gregory Street — part homewares store, part interior design studio. Vintage finds sit alongside pillowcases, glassware and bottle openers; the studio work, as one client put it, is less renovation than translation — taking what's already in a home and making it legible.

Gail Rowley has run Canberra's only papercrafts shop from Gold Creek Cultural Village since 2000. The shelves run deep: Kaiser Craft, Graphic 45, Ranger, Darkroom Door, rubber stamps, dies, embossing folders, cutting machines. Workshops cover Copic markers, distress cards, scrapbooking, and more. Tuesday to Saturday, short hours — check before you go.