‘Op shop’ popular

Press, 20 January 1984, Page 1

‘Op shop’ popular

The City Missioner, the Rev. David Morrell, and the manageress of the Good Will Store, Mrs Grace Church, were on hand yesterday when bargain hunters inspected the Christchurch City Mission's revamped second-hand clothing store in Hereford Street. “Op shop” buying had become more than a trend; it had become a lifestyle for many people, said Mr Morrell yesterday. For this

reason, the shop had been renovated to make it a more “pleasant” place to buy from. “We owe it to people to have a decent place and we hope it will be a shop that people will be happy to come into,” he said. “When a person has little money it is easy to get depressed.” The shop was closed for

about three weeks over Christmas while renovations were carried out. At a “reasonable” cost of about $6OOO, the premises were painted, a wall removed, and display methods revised, to create a brighter and less cramped shop. “We realised that this was not just a small side business but an important part

of our social-service job. We used to deal mainly with beneficiaries and young trendies but now we are finding that we are dealing a lot more with mainstream income earners, and not necessarily from the lowerincome bracket,” Mr Morrell said.

The "revamped” shop has been open since the beginning of the week. Mr Morrell estimated that between 50 and 60 people visited the shop each day.