Good stuff in Prague?

[lizmidol]

I'm going to Prague for a few days in November - I know there must be great places for junk!   Does anyone know of any thrift stores and any other places not to miss?

I'd appreciate any ideas, thanks!
Liz

[ppp]

there's a little shop in a tiny street, a kind of antique shop, a little too expensive for me, but still very cute hats, ancient rice powder boxes (with the powder still inside !), jewels, purses, helmets, opera glasses, and all kind of things... (from the communist era and before)
Even if you don't intend to buy anything, it's worth a visit

it's in staré mesto (old town), close to Staromestske Namesti, Kinsky Palace and Tyn

Bric-à-brac
Tynskà 7
Praha 1

[LolaJo]

Oh, that shop is deadly! I was in Prague twice last year and I spent a good amount of time on both occasions in there. Two different men run it and they're both absolutely lovely, one is called Milos as far as I remember, he has a beard and grey hair - I spent ages talking to him when I was there in December, and he gave me the photos I was going to buy for free (Czech men have lots of time for talking to girls  ). They have a fantastic collection of old photos, just random black and white snaps from people's photo albums (pity to see them for sale I suppose). They sometimes have beautiful etchings as well, plus endless amounts of other stuff, tea sets, cameras, clocks, puppets, typewriters - all sorts.

You should also nip into one of the many Antikvariats in the city, you'd never know what you could find in there, especially if you're into old books, photos, posters, postcards, prints or etchings, they're a real treasure chest.
Have a great time!

[LolaJo]

Doh! Just realised this was posted way back when...

[ghostgirl]

Actually, I'm glad you did since I'll be going there this summer! Does anyone know any good places in Prague to buy Czech beads?

[LolaJo]

Glass beads? You won't be able to move in Prague for the amount of crystal and glass shops and lots of them sell beads but usually pre-strung. But I think you might be able to get them loose as well. They're mostly tourist shops so try not to buy too near the city centre (old town square, mala strana, Wencelas Square) because they'll be way more expensive there. Hope you have a lovely time 

[pavlova]

http://www.alltangledup.com/movabletype/archives/000847.html

has some commentry about her visit to Prague and some yarn stores she came across. you might need to read around her archives as I remember there being more in there...

[marmota-b]

For example, if you want to buy books (but they are usually in Czech, naturally) - go to Masaryk's railway station, there is a kiosk with older books for wonderful prices. You can get some for about 15 - 50 CZK. I love to go there.

[letitiah]

I went to bric a brac, and although it was really cool and they had a lot of interesting stuff there, I thought it was way, way overpriced. Have a look in there, sure, but my advice for a prague visitor would be to cross over to the left bank and explore the much less expensive antique stores over there. Left bank antique stores are much less expensive and have a great range of stuff, including old glass bead necklaces from the 50s in the 200Kc (about 9 euro) price range.

I also went to star beads, the bead shop near tesco, but didnt see anything there that you cant also get in any other country or online. I was disappointed that it didnt have more unusual things.

[marmota-b]

Well, I heard, if you want a source of Czech glass beads, there's the company's shop in Jablonec nad Nisou... the information is rather old, though, and I've never been there. But maybe that's the source for more unusual things?

[roxkitty]

I know this thread is old but am going to bump it anyway!

For Czech glass beads, if you aren't looking to buy in bulk, there's a lady who sells them in smaller quantity at the Havelske Trziste (Havel's Market). You can't miss that market if you're walking to Old Town Square from Wenceslas Square. When I first moved here, I went there a lot. She speaks English, German and Russian.

Miss Bijoux is located at Wenceslas Square (just a few shops from Debenhams). They carry a wide range of quality Czech beads. You can find some special beads (special cuts and shapes) but they're a bit pricey.

Star Beads is another place to go.

If you're a bead freak like myself, you may want to visit Jablonec nad Nisou. It's about an hour drive from Prague. I call it the home of Czech glass. I have visited the bead/glass museum and there are places where you will be able to see how they make glasses and beads. I believe you can get wholesale beads from there too.

Kotva (take Metro B - yellow line to Namesti Republiky or you can walk there from Wenceslas Square) is an old department store. That's where I normally get my yarns from.

[Makki]

Beads
 I usually go shopping here http://www.koralky.net/cz/kontakt - it's out of centre so the prices are ...well... "czech" not "tourist". It is located as Jiřího z poděbrad - green line of metro/subway, it is also at the main street, so it's easy to find (though I still recommend checking google maps or something similar). On their web they say that they have a stall (I found this word using web dictionary, so it may not be correct) at Havelské tržiště, but I haven't been there.
Another good place is http://www.praha.rooya.cz/ (it's also in Brno) (actually, I haven't been here either, but my friends were pretty excited about this place) - they make a czech beading magazine and they do courses (or classes?) - since english is well known here there'll be (with very high probability) someone to translate you.

For other stuff I go to Kotva (mentioned before).

We (Czechs) are still old-fashioned (hey, we've got capitalism only for twenty yrs!), so a shop called "galanterie" means place where you can get knitting or sewing ingredients...

I am not good at sewing AND I don't think that you would be interested in fabric(s) so nothing about them 

Hope this helps a bit.  (PM if interested in poor student girl's opinions 'bout Prague  )

[marmota-b]

a shop called "galanterie" means place where you can get knitting or sewing ingredients...

And crochet, and embroidery, and beads, and sequins...

Actually, why old-fashioned and what does it have to do with 20 years of capitalism? The way it came to be is old-fashioned, but nowadays it means the shop. I think it's practical to call it by a single word. And not even another 20 years of capitalism would change that. Besides, I think the original galanteries also emerged in capitalism... the old one...

[h_pets360]

I know this thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I wanted to thank everyone for the resources they listed.  Me and Mr. H_Pets are going on our honeymoon in April 2010 to Prague and some other cities and I'm hoping to sneak some crafty stops in along the way.  (I'm kidding about the sneaking, we're good about  letting each other pursue our hobbies).