Shop Talk

I am the new shop manager, for now at least, and while I’m in the job I intend to try to keep you all updated from time to time about what is happening on the shop front. I’m not running the entire show, as Karin has done for many years, but have taken over just the ordering of goods and the general maintenance and upkeep of public goodwill (I hope) as the face of the Centre.

The ‘face’ part of it only becomes manifest to the public on Thursdays, when John and I join Kurt at the volunteers’ desk. For the rest of the time it is still up to all you other wonderful volunteers who give your time so freely and willingly to keep things operating efficiently.

As I don’t know the first thing about shop management, I expect to get a lot of help and advice from those of you who have been around a good deal longer than I have. That is, all of you. I would also appreciate some useful ideas about items we might look at ordering, to sell in the shop. Preferably these will be small items for quick sale as pick-up gifts and impulse buying, which we don’t have to sink a lot of capital into and then try to store until we can move them. Skin care products are nice to keep in stock, but the range does need to have a good long shelf life, and must be able to be sold quite cheaply while still bringing in a reasonable profit. So please, see what you can think up.

Perhaps you could pass the word along your friends and neighbours that we would also appreciate some more donated items for the op shop, such as bric-a-brac (objets d’art as Kate says), good serviceable Manchester and even furniture, particularly small bookcases which we can use ourselves. Nothing overly large, and preferably no books or clothes at this stage – these seem to be breeding out of control whenever our backs are turned.

I have to say, it would be lovely to get to meet some more of our staunch members at our monthly meetings, on the third Thursday of each month in the Centre library at 4pm. The meetings last only a couple of hours at most, spent in pleasant like-minded company. We don’t have any big issues on our plates at this time but are rather involved in planning proposal submissions, and letters to keep council and developers honest. All important stuff that does occasionally make a difference.

If any of you have a worrying issue that you would like some support with, or just have an idea for beautifying a part of the Clarence Valley by tree-planting, then bring it to a meeting and we can discuss it together.

-Patricia

You may think your actions are meaningless and that they won’t help, but that is no excuse, you must still act. Mahatma Gandhi