St. Vincent De Paul Society Thrift Shop

Unlike the SVDP shop on the Antrim Road, the one on the Ormeau is small, cluttered and quite poky looking. Don’t let that put you off though — I certainly don’t.
When charity shops are a bit pokier and messier than the shiny clean Oxfam type places, they’re always cheaper too. This shop is a bit hit and miss clothes-​wise, but there’s a good selection of books and music, and when I was trying to kit out my new house a few months ago I was very pleased to find a massive framed Dali print here for just six quid — the frame alone would have cost at least £40 in a proper frame shop.
Certainly worth a look — you might only get something here one time in ten visits, but oh my it will be a bargain.

Actually the window display in this charity shop was originally what caught my eye. Nestled in the morass of the usual books and clothes was a copy of Fleetwood Macs «Rumors» on vinyl… Judging by the look of it it was old and well thumbed but it piqued my curiosity enough to go in and check out the other stuff.
There was a small but good book selection, plenty of contemporary fiction alside the usual celebrity biogs and the like. Trawling through the vinyl I found a nice little pocket of some classic 70’s rock some kind soul had passed on. Peter Frampton, Reo Speedwagon even a Kiss album popped up. They were in pretty good nick vinyl-​wise and the sleeves were too badly beaten up. They were priced at £2.50 each but the lady kindly gave me 6 of them for £10, maybe she was glad to see the back of them.
As with any of these kind of shops, it’s always a lucky dip requiring a bit of time and effort. My luck was certainly in that day.
Pros: Friendly staff. Potential for hidden treasures.
Cons: Cluttered.