Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed eight Northcote “shopping centres” with store counts, anchor supermarkets, food courts, parking tips and “insider tips”, and said they were places we had visited. Seven of the eight names matched no shopping centre we could find, and the details given for the one real name, Northcote Plaza, did not match the centre’s own website. The page has been rewritten. Every shop below was checked against its own current website (or, for Rathdowne Records, which has none, its traders’ directory listing) and a second, independent source on 1 October 2026.
Northcote shops in two registers. Separation Street has Northcote Plaza, a 1981 shopping centre built on the site of the old Northcote Brickworks and the place for the weekly groceries. High Street has the independents: two record shops a few doors apart, a discount bookshop that trades until 9pm three nights a week, a gothic jeweller, a handcrafted-textiles boutique and a charity op shop. Route 86 trams serve High Street, and the op shop lists Tram Stop 32 at its door.
This guide takes the Plaza first, then walks the High Street shops in street-number order, from 230 to 311. Each shop is described by what it says it stocks, with prices only where the shop publishes them. Opening hours change, so give the shop’s own page a squiz before you set out.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Address | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The weekly shop | Northcote Plaza | 25 Separation Street | Coles, Liquorland and specialty stores |
| Jazz, hip hop and funk on vinyl | Rathdowne Records | 230 High Street | Records, open daily |
| Secondhand records, CDs and DVDs | Dixon Recycled Records | 237 High Street | Buying and selling used music and film |
| Gothic silver jewellery | Emma Rea Fine Jewellery | 246 High Street | Handmade in her Melbourne studio |
| Cheap books, late | Book Grocer | 263 High Street | Discounted books, open to 9pm Thursday to Saturday |
| Handcrafted dresses and quilts | Indigo Republic | 275 High Street | Block-printed and indigo textiles |
| Op-shopping | Uniting Op Shop | 309-311 High Street | Preloved clothing, homewares and books |
Northcote Plaza — 25 Separation Street, Northcote VIC 3070
The everyday centre, and the shopping many Northcote searches are actually about. Its own site lists two Coles entries (Coles – Northcote Plaza and Coles – Separation St.), Liquorland and ZamZam Supermarket under supermarkets, and “over 60 Specialty stores including: OPSM, Ferguson Plarre, Baker’s Delight, Sussan and more”. The centre opened in 1981 on the former Northcote Brickworks site; the brickworks’ old quarry next door is now All Nations Park. It became strata-titled in about 1988, so the shops are owned separately, and it has two large car parks and six entrances. Published centre hours run to 7pm on Thursday and 8pm on Friday, with a note that some retailers may open limited hours.
Known for: groceries and daily needs; the directory also lists fashion, jewellery, optical, pharmacy, cafes and services.
Rathdowne Records — 230 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
The strip: start here, at the low-numbered end of the stretch. Rathdowne’s listing in the Northcote Rise traders' directory reads “Miles of jazz, hip hop, disco, house, techno and global sounds. Rock, funk & punk!”, with Japanese imports on top. Broadsheet traces the shop back to Small Screen, a DVD rental shop in Carlton, where owner Joel Shortman started selling soundtracks, jazz and rock records out the back in 2007 before the records outgrew the DVDs and the business moved to Northcote. Both the traders’ directory and Time Out list it as open daily, 11am to 6pm.
Known for: vinyl, with jazz the reputation Broadsheet describes and hip hop, funk and global sounds on the directory list.
Dixon Recycled Records — 237 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
A few doors up, the Northcote branch of a secondhand music business whose first store opened in Blackburn in 1976. Its Record Store Day listing describes “a great range of second hand LPs, CDs, DVDs and Collectables”, and the banner on its own site is a buying offer: “WE PAY CASH FOR YOUR VINYL CDs DVDs”. The site lists hours of 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday, to 6pm on Friday, and 11am to 5pm on Sunday, and points city visitors to the Route 86 tram.
Known for: used records, CDs and DVDs, bought and sold. Bring the crate you have been meaning to clear out.
Emma Rea Fine Jewellery — 246 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
A jeweller with a point of view. Emma Rea’s own site describes “fine artisan jewellery using traditional goldsmithing techniques in her studio in Melbourne”, in gothic motifs: skulls, bones, ornate hearts, filigree and celestial imagery, after Victorian and Georgian jewels. On the home page, sterling silver pieces run from the Petite Sword Earrings (from $110) and the Serpent Ring (from $190) up to the Albert Skull Love Lock Necklace (from $535). The online shop also lists clothing by other labels, such as Meg by Design, credited by name. The traders’ directory lists Thursday to Sunday as its trading days, without times.
Made here: the site says pieces are made to order in her Melbourne studio. Price point: about $110 to $535 for the silver listed on the home page.
Book Grocer — 263 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
The strip’s late-night option. Book Grocer’s store page lists Northcote at 10am to 6pm Sunday to Wednesday and 10am to 9pm Thursday to Saturday. Its Northcote Rise listing says the shop has been “trading on High St for almost 15 years”, with “thousands of books in all categories, all heavily discounted from the RRP”, and describes the business as Australian and family-owned since 2000.
Known for: discounted books across every category; mystery book boxes are sold online.
Indigo Republic — 275 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
A boutique for handmade textiles. The shop describes its stock as “A carefully curated collection of handcrafted pieces. Made ethically and sustainably by talented artisans”, and its traders’ listing adds “Handcrafted in Australia and around the globe.” The home page leads with quilts and dresses: the Lila dress in indigo is $465, and the Pojagi Dress In Handwoven Cotton Black is marked down to $295. Block printing, the technique named in the Irisa dress in blockprinted cotton silk, stamps the pattern on by hand with carved wooden blocks, one colour at a time. The site lists the shop as open 10:30am to 4:30pm Wednesday to Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturday.
Price point: about $295 to $465 for the dresses on the home page.
Uniting Op Shop — 309-311 High Street, Northcote VIC 3070
The end of the walk. Uniting Vic.Tas describes “a thoughtfully curated collection of preloved clothing, accessories, homewares and a large selection of books”, with “vintage gems, premium labels” in the mix. It is open daily from 9:30am to 5pm, takes donations over the same hours, and lists free parking at the rear with a rear entrance, which is handy for dropping off a boot-load. It does not take large furniture or large electrical items. Sales fund Uniting’s services and programs.
Known for: preloved clothing, homewares and books, seven days a week.
Go for: secondhand. Two record shops and an op shop within about eighty street numbers make this stretch of High Street a strong outing for crate-digging and op-shopping.
Quick answers
Is there a Coles at Northcote Plaza?
Yes. Northcote Plaza’s own site lists two Coles entries, “Coles – Northcote Plaza” and “Coles – Separation St.”, along with Liquorland and ZamZam Supermarket. The centre is at 25 Separation Street, Northcote.
What are Northcote Plaza’s opening hours?
The centre’s own site lists 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Wednesday, 9am to 7pm Thursday, 9am to 8pm Friday, 9am to 5pm Saturday and 10am to 5pm Sunday, and notes that some retailers may open limited hours.
Is Northcote Plaza being redeveloped?
A plan to redevelop the southern half of the centre was approved on appeal. Darebin Council reported in May 2022 that VCAT had decided to “greenlight the Northcote Plaza redevelopment”, after the council had refused it in 2021. We could not confirm a construction start date, and the centre’s own site, whose footer is dated 2022, lists normal trading hours.
Is there a record store on High Street, Northcote?
There are two, a few doors apart: Rathdowne Records at 230 High Street, for jazz, hip hop, funk and global vinyl, and Dixon Recycled Records at 237 High Street, which buys and sells used records, CDs and DVDs.
Where is the op shop on High Street, Northcote?
Uniting Op Shop is at 309-311 High Street. Its own page lists it as open daily from 9:30am to 5pm, with preloved clothing, homewares and a large selection of books, and free parking at the rear.
Is there a bookshop in Northcote that opens late?
Book Grocer at 263 High Street lists 10am to 9pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 10am to 6pm the rest of the week. Its traders’ listing says every book is heavily discounted from the recommended retail price.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each shop’s own website (or, for Rathdowne Records, which has no website of its own, its listing in the Northcote Rise traders’ directory) and copied the stock descriptions, hours and prices exactly as published. We confirmed every address at a second, independent source: the Northcote Rise traders’ directory, Time Out, Broadsheet, Record Store Day Australia or Darebin Council. Prices are the ones shown on each shop’s own home page that day; online and in-store prices can differ, and sale prices end. Northcote Plaza’s history, store list and hours come from the centre’s own site, and the redevelopment from Darebin Council’s own pages. We do not describe service or shop interiors we have not checked. The photos are illustrative, from Unsplash: they show the kind of goods, not the shops themselves.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- Northcote Plaza: northcoteplaza.com, its About Us and Supermarkets pages; address also at Your Say Darebin; redevelopment at Darebin Council
- Rathdowne Records: Northcote Rise directory, Time Out and Broadsheet
- Dixon Recycled Records: dixons.com.au store page; also at Record Store Day Australia and the Northcote Rise directory
- Emma Rea Fine Jewellery: emmarea.com; also at the Northcote Rise directory
- Book Grocer: store locations; also at the Northcote Rise directory
- Indigo Republic: indigorepublicstore.au; also at the Northcote Rise directory
- Uniting Op Shop: Uniting Vic.Tas; also at the Northcote Rise directory
