Budget beating op-shop
Lake Taupō Hospice chief executive Christine Rankin (left) and retail operations manager Georgie Day in the new store shortly after it opened to the public this week. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
They were lining up at the door for the opening of Lake Taupō Hospice’s second Taupō store on Tuesday this week.
By Dan Hutchinson
Fittingly named, Over the Road, the new store at Totara Point – opposite the existing Hospice Shop – specialises in low cost clothing and other items.
Hospice chief executive Christine Rankin says the new store stocks a lot of the things they did not have room for at the store directly opposite on Totara St.
The decision was made to stock very low cost essential items to help people meet their budget each week.
“With some of the things we face at Hospice, you become very aware of what people are suffering at the moment. And it's a lot, and I'm not talking about illness, I'm talking about surviving.
“And so, this gives people a chance to buy things at a price that they would never otherwise get them for.”
New retail operations manager Georgie Day says they were getting a lot of clothing and linen that they didn’t have space for. The former Covid-19 vaccination centre premises across the road was available and the landlord gave them a good price.
The new premises gives them a retail area but also extra space for storage for both shops. Donation drop-offs are still at the same place, behind the original Hospice Shop.
As far as offerings at the new store, they were still trialling things to see what worked.
Within half an hour of opening there were lots of empty hangers and several Hospice workers out the back sorting through donations and preparing them for sale.
“We had people waiting outside, which is really good, and people have come in buying bulk, which is what the point of the shop is. They get a good deal,” Georgie says.
She says there are items that may have little holes in or marks on, but a lot of people like farmers and workers don’t care, as long as they've got a nice warm jersey, especially if it's natural fibre like merino.
The original Hospice Shop still sells quality items at low prices but the new store was an opportunity to move a lot of other items that would otherwise have to go to landfill because of a lack of space, Christine says.
“I really do love the idea, or the fact, that the team decided this was going to be the focus, not the high-end stuff. Because that is what everybody does. They open a high-end shop.
“It does make it accessible. The times are tough at the moment.”
The store is open fewer hours and days than the existing shop, with doors open 10am-3pm, Monday to Saturday.