Top Op Shop Lot: (From left) Lynda, Jo, Veronica, Sue, Brenda and Michelle.
PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS
Eight of Whanganui's charity shops have come together to form a united, friendly front.
Last week, representatives from the three Hospice shops, Zest for Mission, Salvation Army Family Store and Redress met at Cactus Crème café to discuss common issues. Other shops are part of this group but were unable to
make the meeting.
The group, calling themselves Charity Retail Network, have organised a scavenger hunt for the school holidays, incorporating nine "op shops" around Whanganui. Competitors have to answer questions about each shop on a supplied form and three prize winners will be drawn from the correct entries.
Public relations and volunteer services manager at Hospice Wanganui, Valda Brechmanis, opened the informal meeting.
"I think it's a fabulous idea to profile the recycling, repurposing, upcycling ethos that's around at the moment."
"This is something we've wanted to happen for a number of years," says Lynda from Whanganui East Hospice Shop. "And we've only just been able to achieve it. Speaking for myself, it's fabulous, because all these people do exactly the same job as I do and we all have the same issues. It's like a peer group; whatever issue we might be having in the shop, we can rest assured the other charity shops are having it."
The shops also share many of the same customers, something they feel should be encouraged.
Banding together like this gives the group a form of lobbying power, giving them a voice they don't have on their own.
One thing they have in common is a need for more volunteers to help run the shops and look after stock. A volunteer shortage is one reason why some shops find it hard to send someone to meetings. Some volunteers work for more than one charity shop, sharing their expertise and community spirit.
The shops do not see each other as competition.
"Co-marketeers," says Sue from Gonville Hospice Shop.
"We all have a different mission and we're all helping different parts of the community," says Brenda from Salvation Army Family Store. "The funds raised don't go to the same place."
