New “Potter” Store Set to Bring the Magic to Sydney, Australia
Wizarding World fans in Sydney, Australia, are set to have a magical festive season thanks to the opening of a new Potter shop in one of the city’s suburbs.
The team behind Quizzic Alley has already enjoyed immense success with its first store in Canberra, which opened two years ago and sells the biggest range of Potter merchandise in the country. Founded by Paralympic gold medalist Michael Milton, Quizzic Alley provides Potter fans in Australia’s capital city with licensed merchandise, butterscotch-flavored drinks, and a flying Ford Anglia photo opportunity.
The new store, set to open in Drummoyne, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, won’t be a carbon copy of its Canberra counterpart. However, it will sell the same merchandise and contain the Quizzic Alley charm that has made the company so beloved by locals. While it’s not clear what props and decorations will be featured in the Sydney store, the magical atmosphere will be enhanced by the building’s exterior, which resembles a fictional location that will be familiar to fans:
The two stores are completely different from the outside, and although the merch we sell will be the same, the experience in Drummoyne will be new. It’s reminiscent of a certain magical bank, and we’re having so much fun fitting it out.
Milton doesn’t just have a passion for Potter and a head for business. He is one of Australia’s best-known and most successful Paralympic athletes, a two-time cancer survivor, and a motivational speaker. Speaking to HerCanberra in 2018, Milton revealed that he’s been a fan of escaping into fantasy worlds since childhood and was more than ready to jump into the wizarding world when the books were released:
Because I had bone cancer at age nine, I don’t remember my childhood very well. But one of my earliest memories is during my cancer treatment being wheeled in a wheelchair into The Empire Strikes Back in a cinema in George Street while I was being treated at Randwick [Hospital, Sydney]. When I got started on Harry Potter a bit later, I was a pretty committed fan, buying the book the day it [came] out and blocking off 24 hours to just read it straight through.
Besides sharing his Potter passion with the communities in Canberra and soon, Sydney, Milton has made sure his kids are fans of the series, reading them the books before later seeing the movies. If that wasn’t enough to convince you of his Potterhead status, Milton says he is a true Gryffindor, identifying with the “ethos in terms of courage, honesty and from [his] sporting career.” He also goes by the name “Nearly Legless Mick” online!
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But why Sydney for Quizzic Alley’s newest location?
After a successful pop-up store in the city last year, Milton revealed that he thought it was time to bring the magic to a community of Potter fans who often make the three-hour journey to see the shop in Canberra:
Every weekend, every school holidays, during the ski season… we get a lot of Potterheads from Sydney dropping in to Quizzic Alley. Some even make the trip especially.
Currently, there isn’t a specific opening date for Quizzic Alley, but it is expected to open in early December. The team had its first staff meeting this week, so we’re sure it won’t be long before the doors are opened to waiting customers.
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Keep an eye on Quizzic Alley’s website and social media to make sure you’re first in line for this magical new store.