Roaring trade for op shops
Op shops around Nelson have proved to be a popular destination for bargain hunters reemerging after lockdown restrictions eased.
At Hospice charity shops around the region, sales during alert level 2 have been meeting and sometimes exceeding 100 per cent of their pre-Covid sales targets.
Hospice retail operations manager Ruth Seabright said the surge in sales had been a welcome surprise.
Seabright said the Hospice stores had been closed throughout alert levels 4 and 3, and had reopened in level 2 with reduced hours and fewer staff.
She said the shops were run with a lot volunteers, many of them in the older age bracket, and not all of them were able to get back to the shop, because of their vulnerability.
‘‘We’re doing a really good trade. We were anticipating it was going to be a bit quiet and people would be a bit cautious, and that it might be a bit of a long hard road ahead to build our sales back up.’’
At the St John Community Shop in Nelson, manager Kimsharee Burke said there had been a similar boost in their postCovid sales.
Burke said winter essentials had been particularly popular with shoppers over the past few weeks, with many people being unable to shop for the change of season over autumn.
She said along with sales, there had also been a noticeable increase in the number of donations coming through.
Seabright said clothing sales had been strong in the Hospice stores around the region, along with furniture sales at the Richmond store.
As with St John, there had been a lot of donations coming through, although with new safety measures it was a bit hard to compare with pre-Covid levels.