On Monday 17th January 2022, the team at our Dorridge Shop were delighted to welcome back shoppers. We chatted to Shop Manager, Jane Wild and Relief Assistant Manager, Jane Norris, about the success of their grand re-opening.
REVIVING RETAIL
Speaking about the long-awaited opening day, Shop Manager Jane Wild, says: “Monday was an amazing day, we asked one of our lovely elderly customers Pam Martin to do the honours of our ribbon cutting ceremony, as she is as important as any celebrity!
“We were fortunate enough to be given the use of a room at the newly built St Philips Church in Dorridge as a donation station and we were able to store a lot of stock ready for the big day.
“This opportunity enabled us to send stock to our other shops. We had a stall at St Philip’s Church Christmas Fair and raised over £500. The rest of the money that we opened with was from goods reserved from the window display, a dinner service was one item which sold for £250. We had the most fantastic donations which resulted in us taking a whopping 5K!”
Our first day back was an incredible and rewarding experience and queues before opening are now a daily occurrence!”
Both Jane Wild and Jane Norris have worked at the Dorridge store for five years, and speak very highly of all their lovely customers and the wonderful work that they do.
“I enjoy interaction with our customers because the shop feels more like a social club that friends enjoy visiting regularly to share their lives and feel our support” says Jane Norris.
Jane Wild adds: “I feel passionate about working for The Hospice Charity Partnership, as I have seen the care first hand.
“Jane and I came to Dorridge to make it profitable under Vikki Lightfoot’s guidance, we always have a photo of Vikki up on display in our shop as she was a huge part of our journey to success and we miss her dearly. We hope we would have made her proud this week!.
“Our goal for the year is to keep working hard, as the rewards for these two over sixties are huge. We just follow Vikki’s legacy so don’t feel we can fail!”
ONGOING SUPPORT
Having been open for six years, and being the only charity shop in Dorridge means that they are well supported with a very tight-knit community backing them.
“We have an inordinate amount of regular visitors but also people who travel from afar, having heard about the shop from family and friends. This brings a new and encouraging vibe to our shop but also promotes Dorridge as a village and supports independent traders within it,” says Jane Wild
“Since reopening it has become apparent just how much the community has missed us!
“Having had the good fortune of working with Vikki Lightfoot, we have always had the vision of being the best ambassadors for the charity and wanting to offer as enjoyable a shopping experience as we can. One that we would seek out for ourselves.
“We have all visited those charity shops that are unappealing and we wanted ours to be one that you’d want to return to. Clean clothes in a clean environment and goods well presented. We enjoy paying attention to styling and product placement.”.
First impressions are critical and Jane’s now famous windows, certainly catch the customer’s eye!” – Jane Norris
