Where Do I Buy...?

Moving to Australia can be a big adjustment. As I’ve covered in the past, there’s quite a learning curve, even though things are quite similar. One of the things that I had a bit of trouble with was knowing where to buy stuff as many of the chains from back home don’t exist over here. Quite frankly the one stop shops that we have back home (aka Wal-Mart) aren’t here so sometimes you really have to explore. Hopefully this guide helps any of you if you’re planning on coming down here, whether for a week, a year, or even permanently.

Groceries:

Main Chains:
- Woolworths/Safeway
- Coles
- Aldi
- IGA

One of the big things here is the so-called grocery wars, better yet the price wars between all the big grocery retailers (more notably between Coles and Woolies). Aldi wins hands down in terms of pricing, but most if not all the products (including beer) will be an Aldi brand. As well produce selection is quite limited. Coles and Woolworth’s/Safeway are your main everyday shops. They’ll have all the main brands as well as your usual selection of produce, meat, and grocery products. Quite frankly preference between these two is more personal choice as I think they’re the same. Lastly there’s IGA, which I find the most expensive and really only go to out of convenience.

General Department Stores:

Main Chains:
- Target
- Kmart
- Big W

These places are all handy when it comes to picking up stuff you may have forgotten to pack, need cheap work clothes, or any general household item. Kmart wins in terms of price. Here you can get a $15 pair of dress pants, $18 dress shoes and $12 work shirts. The only thing is that sometimes the quality may leave a little to be desired, but for those prices you can easily replace them. Target may not have the best prices but the quality of their products is by far the best. I paid $20 for a pair of dress pants and they still look brand new after months of wear. Big W is also good in terms of quality but is also quite good in terms of selection. Who knew you could buy home brewing (making beer) products at a dept. store?

Hardware/Reno:

Main Chains:
- Bunnings Warehouse
- Masters
- Harvey Norman

Why am I covering Hardware/Home Reno? Well put yourself in this situation... Say you’re at a mate’s place taking a shower and then all of a sudden the shower head drops and disintegrates. Shit son looks like you’ll have to replace/fix it... Where the hell can you get one... and for cheap! Google was no help at all, it only led me to Harvey Norman’s website where the price ranges for shower heads was $100-$900 and I knew that the one I broke wasn’t THAT great. Bunnings and Masters are basically the equivalent to Home Depot. Here you can find $15 shower heads, or any sort of home improvement product you may need (lumber, drywall, paint, etc.)

Electronics:

Main Chains:
- JB Hi-Fi
- Dick Smith
- Harvey Norman

When travelling, sometimes your gizmos will break down on you and you may need to either replace them or get some sort of accessory. One of the first things I picked up when I landed here in Oz was a mobile phone charger as I only have one plug converter and several electronics that may need to be charged at the same time. Dick Smith is probably the best in terms of small electronics, headphones and chargers etc. JB Hi-Fi is the place if you need any sort of electronic item big or small (computers, TVs, video games, music). I would say it’s the equivalent of Best Buy back home down to the colours. Lastly there’s Harvey Norman again. They do sell cameras, TVs, and computers, but they’re more of a furniture store. I’ve never actually made it into one of their shops because... well I just have never had to.

Hopefully this guide can be of some service to you if you make your way to Oz. Even if you may not be staying here for long you may still need to go to one of these shops. Face it, you may need to buy food, clothes, repair a mate’s house or replace your earphones. Just remember that you may have to shell out a bit more here in Oz than you would back home.