Kingston

The team behind this Kingston Foreshore bottle shop worked for its previous owners, Paul and Michelle, for ten years before buying the business themselves and renaming it Strange Alchemy. The changeover kept what made the place work — the same easy banter, the same fair prices — while sharpening the range toward boutique and natural Australian wine producers; it's a listed stockist for Four Winds Vineyard and Big River Distilling, among smaller names that don't reliably turn up on supermarket shelves. It sits among the foreshore's run of bars and restaurants, an easy stop before dinner rather than a destination requiring its own trip. Reviews since the changeover have stayed warm, with regulars noting the same knowledgeable service the shop built its reputation on under its previous name. Open daily from mid-morning into the evening, with the latest closes on Friday and Saturday nights.

Kumvana Gomani studied industrial design at Emily Carr in Vancouver and had work stocked in MoMA's museum shops before moving from Norway to Canberra and opening Woven in 2020. The Kingston shop sells baskets, blankets, cushions, lampshades and jewellery bought directly from WFTO fair trade groups and social enterprises in Malawi, Ghana, Guatemala, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Tunisia and India. Open Tuesday to Sunday, with shorter hours at the weekend.