Member Linda O'Brien has found this fantastic article about a Bentleigh Sunday Market legend, Helena.From an interview with Helena that has been edited
We sell collectables like books, chinaware, records and sheet music.
I run a stall at the Bentleigh market and it is still there. That market has been around for forty years, and it’s an incredibly important local institution.
Helena’s Curiosity Shop is an extension of what I was – and am – doing there. My nana was always collecting, so I think that it is in our blood. It is a shared love, and we have always sold a bit of everything.
Since we have been here the arcade has changed quite a lot.
There was a stamp shop for a period of time. A fancy goods shop, a record shop, a comic shop which is still going on Sydney Road, a Scottish kilt shop and an antique shop around the corner. But, over the last ten years, the arcade has established itself as a health centre.
There have been renovations over the years but the design and the terrazzo type floor has remained the same.
It’s an iconic sort of space
I started off with my own collection.
I try to buy bits and pieces, but the idea is that I’m looking after the items until somebody comes along.
I get joy out of it.
The shop looks a bit messy at the moment but we have a range of novels. The classics are down the bottom. The Australiana is along the wall. We have gardening books, cooking books, autobiographies and biographies.
I don’t know how many books and records we have, but there are over 1000 pieces of sheet music. In a small space it’s very compact. Books behind books. Like The Leaning Tower of Pisa of books. I worry about making sure there’s a walkway for people but – at the moment – it looks a bit overwhelming.
And I wouldn’t say we sell antiques. I’d categorise them as collectables.
It’s basically whatever pleases the eye.
The rest of the article can be viewed HERE