Australia has long been on my bucket list. I have been fascinated with this great country ever since I was a teenager attending my first music concert by the famous 80’s Australian group, Men At Work. As a 15-year-old, I remember being so envious of my best friend who, with her family, got to take a multi-week vacation to Australia to see all the sights and sounds of Sydney and the Australian Outback. I coveted the Sydney Opera House t-shirt and yellow kangaroo earrings she brought me back as souvenirs. I wore that t-shirt until there was nothing left of it. Now it’s my sister who, in the last decade, has had numerous opportunities to visit friends and family in Australia. I live vicariously through her on each of her trips to the beautiful land downunder!
I spend a lot of time browsing the interest (big surprise!). I love how the internet can take us to far off places we can only dream of visiting one day, like Australia. The other day I was browsing through various Australian websites. My search took me through websites for well-known Australian cities and towns, local brew pubs, coffee shops and retail outlets. Something caught my eye when I happened upon an ad for an Australian furniture site called Super A-Mart. Touted as Australia’s furniture, bedding and outdoor superstore, Super A-Mart‘s furniture selection appeared to be very similar to what you would expect to see at some of our Canadian furniture retailers – with one noticeable difference.
House Packages.
House Packages? Where were those when I was striking out on my own for the first time?
Imagine having to fully furnish your first house. That much furniture shopping can be overwhelming, at least for someone like me who isn’t exactly Sarah Richardson or Martha Stewart. Being able to shop in a furniture store like Super A-Mart that offers an “all-in-one” House Package purchasing option would have made furniture shopping a whole lot easier for me. I enjoy buying accent pieces and home decor items but, when it comes to putting a whole room together, since I can’t afford to hire Sarah Richardson, I would love to let a store like Super A-Mart do my interior design thinking for me!
Think about it. Just over $4,200 to furnish your first home. That’s for 21 pieces of furniture! Talk about a one-stop-shop! Those Australians are smart shoppers! Of course I realize that, at $4,200 for 21 pieces of furniture, we aren’t talking top-of-the-line Canadian Gibbard furniture but, for practical and stylish furniture (like the Madang set I spotted), I’d have a hard time passing up this great deal.
Do we have anything like this in Canada? Perhaps we do, but I’ve never come across it yet. Sure, we can furniture shop for complete “room” sets, like an office for a bedroom, but I have never seen a complete “house package” in any Canadian retail store I’ve ever shopped in. Have you? I’d love to hear about it if you have!
I wonder if Super A-Mart delivers to Canada? I know, I know. Silly question.
*Sigh* Back to my Australian dreamworld.
Ever heard of a place called Woolloomooloo? I think I should have included it on my list of funny town names!