“Sometimes they come in, we chat about things, we have a hug … I don’t even know what their names are, but we still have a catch-up whenever they come in, which is lovely,” she said.
But for every hug, there’s a funny mini-catastrophe.
“I remember a long time ago, one of the volunteers had left a brand-new scarf she’d paid $45 for. But she left it out the back on the rack, and it got sold for probably $5.”
Volunteer Juliette Cadwallader recalls the day a brand-new $45 scarf was accidentally sold for about $5. Photo / Rafaella Melo
Volunteer Cathy McGregor says those quirky moments are not as rare as you might think in the hustle and bustle of op shop life.
She said, one day, a volunteer worker left her bicycle in the shop, and another volunteer accidentally sold it.
Another time, a volunteer’s favourite jacket was put on the rack by mistake and sold for a few dollars.
“There was also a slightly embarrassing moment for one volunteer who spotted a lovely skirt she knew her friend would love. After popping it into her letterbox she learnt her friend had donated it to the shop,” McGregor said.
One of the most surprising finds in recent times came when a customer opened a donated book and discovered dried, pressed marijuana leaves inside.
“We wouldn’t have known what it was,” Cadwallader said.
McGregor said odd donations often bring fun to the group.
“One day, someone left a huge, very heavy, broken old brown couch and two matching armchairs, only suitable for the dump.
“We arranged for a truck to collect them, but by the time the truck arrived, they had been stolen.
“Since then, we sometimes leave awkward, unsellable items outside and hope they are quietly removed in the night.”
But it’s not only the quirky stories that fill their shelves.
“After Cyclone Gabrielle, it was lovely to be able to just give people whatever they wanted,” Cadwallader said.
Helping people is what they are all about, McGregor says.
“The most recent one was a lady who came straight in from the cowshed from milking her cows. She was in her gumboots and all,” she said.
“She’d just received a phone call from a friend who was in hospital, and we kitted her out so she could go up to the hospital.”
About 28 volunteers keep the shop running, some doing just half a day a month, others filling in wherever needed and all the proceeds go back to local charities.
“They vary at times to the different charities within the community that we donate to each year,” McGregor said.
In Hastings, the volunteers at Threads Community Clothing Store say the surprises are just as frequent and, sometimes, they start at home.
Hastings’ Threads volunteers Delwyn Stanton (left) and Val Andrews with a brand-new item donated with the original $120 tag still attached. Photo / Rafaella Melo
“We bring clothes home to wash and then bring them back to sell,” volunteer Delwyn Stanton said.
“I can remember selling a pair of my daughter’s nursing pants by accident once … I think she was a little more careful after that. She ended up doing her own washing instead of me, which was actually quite a good thing.”
Stanton says odd donations are all part of the fun.
“We get odd costumes or unusual pieces that we think, how on earth do you wear this kind of thing?
“We laugh, figure it out, and move on to the next one.”
Volunteer Val Andrews, who sorts donations out the back, said one thing that still amazes her is how often brand-new items arrive.
“People drop things off with the tags still on. It happens a lot,” Andrews said.
“We’ve had items worth $120 completely unworn.”
The shop also runs a $1 rack for clothes that have been on display for a while.
“It’s wonderful to be able to say, ‘have this, it’s only $1,’ and provide for people in that way,” Stanton says.
Threads runs with five volunteers and all profits go to charities including St John Ambulance, the Cancer Society and church community programmes.