Tucked into the basement of Eglise de l’Immaculee Conception at the corner of Rachel and Papineau in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood, Friperie Aux Trouvailles d’Irene runs a straightforward, church supported secondhand operation where every dollar spent stays with the parish. The shop is managed by a volunteer named Irene along with a team of fellow church volunteers, and its own materials are direct about where the money goes: all profits are turned over to the church rather than kept as retail revenue, making a purchase here as much a small act of parish support as a shopping trip.
Pricing is kept deliberately simple and low. Adult clothing runs five dollars a piece, children’s clothing four dollars, and baby clothing three dollars, with winter and spring coats sold alongside the regular racks. Beyond clothing, the shop stocks books, household items, jewelry, toys, dishes, decorations, shoes, bags, and belts, plus a media section covering DVDs, CDs, vinyl records, and even VHS tapes for shoppers who still have a way to play them. A designated VIP brand section sets aside recognizable label pieces separately from the general racks, giving shoppers hunting for a specific brand name a shortcut past the broader inventory.
The shop keeps regular hours Tuesday through Saturday, ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, with a summer schedule that has run from mid May through mid July in recent years, followed by a short closure in late July and early August before reopening. Anyone planning a visit around that window should double check current dates directly with the shop, since a volunteer run operation tied to a parish calendar can shift its summer break slightly from year to year. Donations of quality clothing, household goods, and books are accepted during those same operating hours, giving Plateau residents a nearby, walkable option for clearing out a closet rather than driving to a donation bin elsewhere in the city.
Plateau Mont-Royal itself is one of Montreal’s denser, more walkable residential neighborhoods, filled with triplexes, small businesses, and a steady flow of foot traffic, and a basement friperie inside an active parish church fits naturally into that streetscape, offering a quieter, more neighborhood scaled alternative to the larger secondhand shops found along nearby commercial strips like Mont-Royal Avenue or Saint-Laurent Boulevard. For shoppers who value knowing exactly where their money is going, the direct church affiliation here is the differentiator: rather than funding a distant head office or corporate parent, every purchase supports the same Immaculee Conception parish whose basement houses the shop.
Those looking to shop, donate, or simply confirm current hours can reach the friperie by phone at 514-521-4876 or by email, both listed on the shop’s own site. Between its clear low pricing, its wide mix of clothing and household categories, and its direct funding link to the parish above it, Friperie Aux Trouvailles d’Irene offers Plateau Mont-Royal shoppers an affordable, walkable secondhand shop where every purchase directly supports the neighborhood church that houses it.
