More room at Hospice Furniture Shed

NEW SPACE: Lynda Knofflock shows off the new Furniture Shed before its opening last weekend. PICTURE / PAUL BROOKS

There has been a lot of work undertaken at the Hospice Shop in Duncan St, Whanganui East, with more to come, according to manager Lynda Knofflock.

What started off as a refurbishment of the drop-off area has turned into a major re-do and a whole new area for furniture.

"All credit to the builders, when it was done it was finished to a much higher standard than we imagined," she says. The builder is Morris and Son Ltd.

It's so good that it is an ideal space in which to showcase the Hospice Shop's furniture stock, giving it space to be displayed to its best advantage. Such a space has to be good for sales, she says.

"I could never put the beds out before. When you buy a bed, the first thing you want to do is lie on it, because that's what it's for." But the space wasn't available before for that to happen. It is now.

"We always have a good day when we sell furniture. You have to sell a lot of 50 cent items to equal one bed. If we have good furniture sales we have good revenue for the day."

The new wood-lined walls also means space to hang pictures, something concrete walls inhibit.
"We'll turn this into a really nice area."

The new space, dubbed 'Furniture Shed', is officially open for business and keeps the same hours as the shop - 9.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday.

"The fact that every item in the shop is donated is phenomenal," says Lynda. And that includes all the furniture. Lynda says the standard of donated goods is constantly being raised.
"It is very much a community thing here," she says. "We have people who come here every day."

The Hospice Shop in Whanganui East is huge. Three buildings house the immense range of stock from electrical goods to clothing and accessories to books and toys to furniture, knick-knacks and pretty much everything that could be useful in any room in the house or in the shed or garden. The clothing is good quality and comes from many sources - women updating their wardrobe or donating clothing they no longer wear. It doesn't all come from deceased estates!

"We have a full pick-up service," says Lynda. There is a charge for delivery.
Nothing is wasted. Even faulty jewellery is pulled apart and everything reused or sold separately. All electrical items are certified and safe. All unusable metal is collected by Grumpy Old Men Enterprises (GOME) and they sell it to raise charitable donations.
All sales at the Whanganui East shop raise funds for Hospice Whanganui, keeping the proceeds local.

"I don't believe there is anybody who doesn't believe what a fabulous job Hospice does," says Lynda.