St Kevin’s Arcade

St Kevin’s Arcade is the home to quirky, vintage retail namely ‘Vixen’ or ‘Rita Sue’, cafes like ‘Alleluyah’ or ‘Honeytrap’, second-​hand bookshops; the understated ‘Wine Cellar’ just to name a few favourites. I love the space, the ambience and the crowds of eclectic people that populate the Arcade to shop, drink coffee, meet up or daydream. The ceiling to floor window is majestic that sits by Alleluyah. It’s a landmark on Karangahape Road that also backs onto Myers Park. Rad place Unilocalers.

A step further, just a single step further, and this place would be too hipster cool for me. But it just manages to pull it off, just manages to stay on the right side of the line in the sand. The café is trendy, the shops are chic and exquisitely vintage, and the building itself is exactly the right level of faux-​dingy. You’d think I’d hate the place, but luckily it still manages to be a pleasant place to visit. This is largely thanks to the people working here, especially at Alleluya Café and the Safe Cruelty Free Shop.
They sometimes have things on in the evening here — markets, arty things, sometimes even music. These are the situations when the hipster concentration gets too much for me. Or maybe it’s just any large group of people in a small, echoey space. Either way, these events are cool but hard work. Get there early.

Even when I’m at my most critical, St kevin’s Arcade seems to escape the pretense which taints almost everything attempting to claim a place in Indie culture. It is a place which just happened.
An appropriate collection of merchants peddle their off-​beat wares to the left and to the right, the Arcade’s secondary purpose is to provide a thoroughfare between K’Rd and Myers park. I rarely come to this Arcade to do shopping, but just to pass through, and I enjoy it as a blur. The sophisticated well dressed in the café, the chain smoking estranged teenagers on the stairs, the seinile elderly who look at home, and other strangers just walking through. Come here for vintage clothing.

I like this quirky little place off the K Road. I always browse in the second hand bookstore which has a good choice of used books. It’s also got an ‘adult’ section which is behind a tatty curtain and the whole thing reminds me of something from Soho in London. I guess at least it’s not dull. There are some very good op shops and you can find all sorts of stuff, eg retro kitchenware at cheap prices here. There’s a good café at the back which attracts a very arty crowd. You can tell they don’t work in offices, they look like they are enjoying a flat white and have all the time in the world. Another interesting thing I discovered about this place recently is that there is a walkway leading on to Myers Park. I went through and walked the length of this park until I came out again near AUT. It was lovely and serene and I felt so relaxed that I forgot that I was in a big city with traffic and crowds.

I am a fan of St Kevin’s Arcade, a very big fan! I love the crowd that attracts the arcade, it’s not people you would see anywhere else in Auckland. It is people who are interesting, lead interesting lives and are extremely friendly. Each time I have gone to have a coffee at one of the cafes in the arcade or gone to check out the thrift shops, I have always talked to someone about life and everything else in between. My life has seemed so boring and dull after talking to these people.
I love the arcade, as it is under stated, different and beautiful. The coffees served at the café at the end of the arcade on the right side are absolutely amazing. The café also serves some gluten free and a menu that consists of almost all egg everything. Egg lovers, this is heaven for you. The price for everything on the menu is reasonable, plus $ 4 for a big slice of freshly made carrot cake is a steal!
Apart from the cafes and interesting characters, St Kevin’s Arcade also houses some amazingly quirky thrift shops. They are worth a peep!