\u201cSometimes they come in, we chat about things, we have a hug … I don\u2019t even know what their names are, but we still have a catch-up whenever they come in, which is lovely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But for every hug, there\u2019s a funny mini-catastrophe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember a long time ago, one of the volunteers had left a brand-new scarf she\u2019d paid $45 for. But she left it out the back on the rack, and it got sold for probably $5.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteer Juliette Cadwallader recalls the day a brand-new $45 scarf was accidentally sold for about $5. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
Volunteer Cathy McGregor says those quirky moments are not as rare as you might think in the hustle and bustle of op shop life.<\/p>\n
She said, one day, a volunteer worker left her bicycle in the shop, and another volunteer accidentally sold it. <\/p>\n
Another time, a volunteer\u2019s favourite jacket was put on the rack by mistake and sold for a few dollars. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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,\u201d McGregor said.<\/p>\n
One of the most surprising finds in recent times came when a customer opened a donated book and discovered dried, pressed marijuana leaves inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have known what it was,\u201d Cadwallader said.<\/p>\n
McGregor said odd donations often bring fun to the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day, someone left a huge, very heavy, broken old brown couch and two matching armchairs, only suitable for the dump. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe arranged for a truck to collect them, but by the time the truck arrived, they had been stolen.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, we sometimes leave awkward, unsellable items outside and hope they are quietly removed in the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not only the quirky stories that fill their shelves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Cyclone Gabrielle, it was lovely to be able to just give people whatever they wanted,\u201d Cadwallader said.<\/p>\n
Helping people is what they are all about, McGregor says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most recent one was a lady who came straight in from the cowshed from milking her cows. She was in her gumboots and all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey vary at times to the different charities within the community that we donate to each year,\u201d McGregor said.<\/p>\n
In Hastings, the volunteers at Threads Community Clothing Store say the surprises are just as frequent and, sometimes, they start at home.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bring clothes home to wash and then bring them back to sell,\u201d volunteer Delwyn Stanton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember selling a pair of my daughter\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stanton says odd donations are all part of the fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get odd costumes or unusual pieces that we think, how on earth do you wear this kind of thing?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe laugh, figure it out, and move on to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteer Val Andrews, who sorts donations out the back, said one thing that still amazes her is how often brand-new items arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople drop things off with the tags still on. It happens a lot,\u201d Andrews said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had items worth $120 completely unworn.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shop also runs a $1 rack for clothes that have been on display for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to be able to say, \u2018have this, it\u2019s only $1,\u2019 and provide for people in that way,\u201d Stanton says.<\/p>\n
Threads runs with five volunteers and all profits go to charities including St John Ambulance, the Cancer Society and church community programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cSometimes they come in, we chat about things, we have a hug … I don\u2019t even know what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1561,4057,13736,71,1976,111,139,69,123635,28257,51212,123634,145,223],"class_list":{"0":"post-201512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-bay","9":"tag-behind","10":"tag-counter","11":"tag-from","12":"tag-hawkes","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-op","17":"tag-quirky","18":"tag-shops","19":"tag-tales","20":"tag-technology","21":"tag-the"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}