A new op shop has hit Papamoa – and one of the manager's wages are going towards raising funds for a local youth group.
Co-manager Lynda Behrent says herself and Christene McCrea came up with the idea of the Heavenly Gifts op shop some months ago, but were finally able to open their doors at the beginning of June.
It's located at 1074 Papamoa Beach Rd, and Lynda says the community has a large interest in what's for sale. 'We've had all sorts of people come in,” says Lynda.
'There's been families shopping for both themselves and their children, and there's also been older folk coming in to look at our displayware, dinnerware and crockery.”
Lynda's motivation for opening the op shop came from having a mutual interest in op shops with fellow co-manager Christene McCrea.
Past experience
'We're both totally into op shops. I have volunteered at The Dovecote op shop, and Christene was the manager of The Dovecote for 13 years.”
Their past experience in other Papamoa op shops have given the duo links to the op shop community, as well as knowledge about what makes a good op shop.
So far, Lynda says herself and Christene have been able to provide many cheap, quality goods to residents in the surrounding area.
'We've had people say it is a quite a classy op shop. We always look for quality stuff.
'Last week we had a lovely elderly gentleman come in who wanted to buy our two-seater couch.
'He said he wanted to come in and buy the couch so he didn't have to sit on an upside down bucket.”
More important
This moment reminded Lynda of the importance of op shopping, especially with the rising cost of living and fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'The need for op shops seems to be greater than ever.”
'It was heartbreaking to think this man only had one chair in his entire house. It makes us think op shops are becoming more important.
'Even people who can buy brand new are choosing not to. I sold a beautiful North Face Gore-Tex Jacket the other day. It looked brand new and sold for $25. These usually will sell for $290.”
Lynda 'loves the people” that come into op shops, and it is where her passion stems from.
'We're independently owned, so we're choosing to send our profits to the youth group at Golden Sands Baptist Church. I'm not even taking a wage.”
Lynda attends the church, which she says is investing in building up its youth group. She adds that if people have any furniture they would like to donate, Heavenly Gifts also has a pick-up service.
'They can give us a call and we'll come round between 9pm and 4pm. On Saturday we open at 9am until about 1.30pm.”
For more information about the op shop, visit ‘Heavenly Gifts Op Shop' on Facebook.