Thursday November 21st, 2024
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The Best Second-Hand Shops & Thrift Stores In The UAE

Let’s get thrifty with it.

Scene Now UAE

The Best Second-Hand Shops & Thrift Stores In The UAE

The rise of sustainable fashion in recent years has been swift, and we’re not mad about it. 

Buying pre-loved goods adds such a satisfying sense of achievement to shopping, and for those of us with a slight to moderate uniqueness complex when it comes to fashion, you can’t put a price on being able to say ‘Where’s my dress from? Oh, it’s thrifted. Sorry!’ Equally, being able to show off your oh-so-timeless Chanel slingbacks, or embroidered SS2000 Fendi baguette bag, knowing you paid less than 50% of the RRP, is an almost unrivalled feeling. 

That said, it takes real time and skill to perfect your thrifting game, and it can take years to cultivate your craft. Luckily for you, we’ve decided to share all of the UAE’s best kept secrets for sourcing the wardrobe of your dreams for a fraction of the price. Happy thrifting. 

Thrift For Good

📍Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Thrift For Good is a classic good ol’ thrift store. It’s one that hasn’t caved to the whims and aesthetics of a fast-paced place like Dubai, and is still committed to rehoming items just to reuse them, as well as redirect the money to a good cause.

The store also repairs and recycles older items, so they welcome literally any and all donations. Created in partnership with Gulf For Good, an international children’s charity, all proceeds from their multiple stores are going to SOS Children’s Villages Kyrgyzstan at present, but other charities get their moment, too.
Known for its consistency and eco-friendly focus, Thrift For Good is a good, reliable store for sourcing second-hand basics and quality essentials.

Urban Market Concept

📍Moving event
This one is pretty cool, if we do say so ourselves. A step above the standard thrift store, Urban Market Concept, as the name suggests, is more like a concept store for thrifty people.
Set up in 2021, they put on events with music, food, drinks and, of course, stalls from popular vintage, second-hand and independent sellers in the area. The venue changes from event to event, so you have to stay on your toes and keep an eye on their Instagram, but don’t we all love a good secret?

La Brocante

📍Al Quoz, Dubai
La Brocante, meaning ‘flea market’ in French, is a warehouse in Al Quoz, chock full of curated second-hand and vintage homeware, because your living space needs to reflect who you are as much as your outfit does. 

Set up in 2020 by one Natasha Fownes, La Brocante is inspired by London’s Portobello Road, and has featured some truly iconic pieces, like one or two Eames chairs. The items are vetted before being accepted and sold on, so you can be sure that everything is of good condition and even better quality. 

Reems Closet

📍Jumeirah Plaza, Dubai 

The very first designer resale store in Dubai since 2008, Reems Closet has something of an authority when it comes to buying and selling vintage designer pieces. You can buy in-store at the Jumeirah Plaza, online, on the app, or even at their consignment stand at La Brocante for discounted prices. 

When you sell with Reems Closet, you have the option of receiving cash or store credit for your item, so you can basically exchange your vintage gem for an even better gem without ever leaving the store.

The Dubai Charity Centre

📍Al Karama, Dubai 

This one is probably the closest on this list to a real, gritty, traditional thrift shop. This one is for the cool kids who like to rummage around for hours with earphones in, listening to their Spotify Wrapped from 2021. This one is for the thrifters who pride themselves on that ‘Aha!’ moment, when the hours of meticulously scraping at the racks finally pays off and they find the gem they saw in a dream, or maybe a TikTok, three weeks prior. Visit Karama Fish Market to play out the scene at the oldest thrift store in Dubai.

Toyshare

📍Online store

This may seem like a rogue addition to this list, but frankly it’s a really innovative concept, and if it’s not relevant to you now, it might be one day soon. Toyshare is an online thrift store for children’s books and toys, based on the motto ‘Play. Learn. Share.’ Toys, as they develop more and more technologically, have become somewhat extortionate, especially when we consider how quickly kids get bored with or grow out of them. 

Save money and space, while allowing your child, sibling, niece, nephew or grandchild to grow and evolve with every new book. You can even get customised deliveries of books and toys delivered to your door every two weeks, and once the items have been resold enough times, they get passed on to refugee camps, orphanages and paediatric hospitals, so nothing goes to waste. 

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