PETALING JAYA: You never quite know what you’ll find while thrifting. One rack could hold a graphic T-shirt and a pair of 1970s bell-bottom jeans and the next, an item of Malaysian nostalgia you haven’t seen in years.
“I started thrifting around 2017. I liked experimenting with fashion and finding pieces that you wouldn’t see everyone else wearing. Thrifting was also cheaper,” Derrick Ooi, 37, told FMT Lifestyle.
After experiencing burnout following 15 years in the sports fashion industry, Ooi turned this passion into a business.
This year, he opened "Weird Things" in Subang Jaya, a follow-up to "Weird Space", which he opened in 2024 in Petaling Jaya. For him, running a thrift shop is about more than filling racks with second-hand clothes.
“I might not be 100% on trend, but I want to offer good-quality and stylish pieces,” he said. “The business needs to stay true to the roots of thrifting: sustainability, affordable second-hand items and collectibles.”
The unisex clothing here ranges from graphic T-shirts to dresses, denim jackets, branded handbags and traditional attire like cheongsams.
“We also have genuine army-surplus clothing, some dating from the 1970s, including pieces from France, the US and Germany,” Ooi shared.
He also prioritises local sourcing. Many of his clothes come from charity shops, including those run by NGOs for fund-raising, families clearing their homes, and sellers on Facebook Marketplace and Carousell. He also scours scrap-metal recycling yards for overlooked treasures.
“You have to be resourceful and look in places you might not normally think of. You might go 10 times and find something interesting only once,” he said.
What sets “Weird Things” apart is its collection of finds beyond clothing. These include old Enid Blyton books, vintage board games and vinyl records used by Rediffusion, Malaysia’s first commercial cable-transmitted radio service. There are also vintage gadgets and household items, from radios and wall clocks to typewriters and old vacuum cleaners.
“I try to keep things that remind me of my childhood, and items connected to Malaysian history. That’s where my tagline, ‘Kotak Nostalgia’, comes from. The shop is like a box, and when people walk in, I want them to be hit with nostalgia,” Ooi said.
And the name "Weird Things"?
“When you have lots of interests, you don’t fit neatly into one category, and people might call you weird. One day, I might dress military-style and the next day I might dress goth,” he said. “We’re all weird in our own way and here we’re embracing it.”
Among the more unusual finds are a 1970s leather fireman’s helmet from Borneo and a bulletproof helmet used by the Malaysian Armed Forces.
One jacket, which was nearly discarded, belonged to a woman athlete who represented Malaysia in bowling at the SEA Games in the mid-1980s. A customer later recognised the tailor’s name stitched inside as that of his father’s business.
Ooi enjoys such unexpected connections, even when an item’s full story remains a mystery.
A collection of ties he once found at a charity shop raised more questions. Among them were ties linked to the Football Association of Malaysia, the Malaysian Olympic Council and the Badminton Association of Malaysia, which Ooi suspects may have belonged to the same person. However, the owner’s identity remains unknown.
Ooi still handles much of the sourcing, cleaning and shop management himself, paying for everything out of his own pocket.
At the Subang Jaya outlet, nostalgia has a room of its own. At the back of the shop, a row of vintage television sets face a row of small chairs, while movie posters adorn the walls. The room is complete with working DVD and VHS players and gaming consoles, which Ooi hopes to put to use for screenings and other activities.
The store also has a corner for local vendors like “Bea’s Clutter” to showcase their creations and lifestyle accessories. Ooi hopes to eventually open up the space for workshops and collaborations with independent creators.
Two years into running “Weird Things”, Ooi said leaving corporate life was worth it. “The journey has been difficult, but ultimately rewarding.”
Follow Weird Space on Instagram.
Weird Things
41A, Jalan SS18/1B, SS18,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor
Business hours: 12pm-7pm (closed on Tuesdays)
Weird Space
Level 2, 12A, Jalan SS 4C/5,
Taman Rasa Sayang,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Business hours: 12pm-7pm (Thursdays to Mondays)