After more than 30 years in the same location, Paddington’s most recognisable gift shop has packed up and replanted itself just five doors up the road. The Tourgelis family has run the Opus store for decades, and business owner Chris Tourgelis tells Time Out that the new space means room for even more products.
“This is the largest card collection that we’ve ever had,” says Tourgelis, as he gives us a tour of the new stomping grounds. “There are over 10,000 items in store.”
The shop, whose signage proudly states ‘since 1968’, stocks an eclectic range of lifestyle products from books to kitchenware through to minimalist interiors. “Everything has a design element to it,” says Tourgelis. “We have items from local designers as well as products from overseas.”
The packed-to-the-rafters shop has children’s dining plates, glittery water bottles and jugs by Kate Spade, aprons and oven mitts by Orla Kiely and cabinets of kitchenware sourced from around the globe. You could easily lose an hour just exploring the lower deck – but don’t, there’s more on the upper level, too.
A light and spacious loft space on level one houses larger items of furniture, such as modern dining tables, cosy velvet armchairs and ornate footstools, plus trinkets and gifts like hand-knitted babies’ rattles and hot air balloon mobiles for children’s bedrooms.
We recommend circling the room once for wonder, and then again to focus on the little things that you might have missed. Don’t miss the original wall prints, for example, produced by local artists Prudence Caroline and Rowena Martinich, or the candles from Lumira, nestled among the cookery books.
Whether you came with a gift in mind, or just for a stickybeak, we bet you don’t leave empty handed.