By Don Gingerich
Published in September 2005
A great deal of planning has resulted in Worth A Second Look – Furniture and Housewares. It is a shared project between The Working Centre and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP) that will evolve over many years. By cooperating together, we will better serve the local community through increased access to used goods. The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store has operated at 97 Victoria for the past 20 years. The new store will involve substantial changes including a major renovation, more open retail space, a new name and more support of the concept of recycling used goods.
This project got off to a tricky start during the first week of May. On Saturday May 3rd, SSVP moved out all of its used clothing to its new clothing store at 365 King St East between Water St. and Francis St. Preparations for a new store were able to begin on the Monday. SSVP continued to sort the furniture and clothes in the back area of 97 Victoria.
With half the store emptied of clothing, all the furniture and housewares were displayed in half of the store. A hording wall was built down the middle of the space and immediately the first phase of construction started. This included fire rating the ceiling, preserving the beam structure, replacing the windows and framing the perimeter walls for insulation and fire rating the front exit.
The Working Centre opened the store on Thursday May 8th. It was chaotic, with construction taking almost two thirds of the retail space. We quickly realized that all the housewares were on fixed shelving next to the only door we had access to. This meant that we would have to move an endless stream of bulky couches and furniture through a narrow aisle up to the front.
Thankfully, these temporary limitations did not deter customers. Everyday new items would come in to the store and be quickly sold. We have been surprised by the range of reusable items that come through.
It was an incredibly successful first three months. And it was made possible by all the help that was provided by SSVP at the back. Pat Laurette was very helpful in supporting the transition. We were also very lucky to have George Ashcroft who volunteered in the store four days a week. We also had volunteer help from Ernst Ritzman, Mary Gannou, Joseph Rencourt, Marnie Crysdale, and Christina Mancini. Bryan Patterson, a summer student at St. John’s Kitchen, helped out a couple hours each day.
By August, the renovations had caught up to the store and it was time to close for two months to allow the completion of renovations in the retail space. When we open in October the store will look great, but we will have to wait a month or so to have a fully functioning store with proper facilities for accepting used goods, sorting and retail space.
Over the next couple of months there will be an integration of Job Café labour into the daily pick up, sorting and clothing recycling work.
