Many thrifty people have found a bargain at Green Connect Unanderra – but now its doors are closing. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
In devastating news for dedicated op-shoppers across the Illawarra, Green Connect will close the doors to its Unanderra store on Saturday 2 November.
Its University of Wollongong op shop will close earlier, on Monday 21 October.
General manager at Green Connect Robert Servine said the closures were due to the sale of the building the Unanderra shop and warehouse operated out of.
“Unfortunately a condition of the sale was that it be under vacant possession, and we’ve been encouraged to move,” he said.
“Our op shops have been doing really well and they have a huge community following.
“We ensure as little goes to landfill as possible and have about 45 volunteers there; the community is really sad about it.”
Green Connect was launched in 2011 by SCARF (an organisation that helps refugees settle in Wollongong and is now part of Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra), to provide employment opportunities in waste recovery at events for former refugees.
In 2013 it came under the umbrella of Port Kembla’s Our Community Project, its work in waste recovery grew and labour hire services were launched to help connect refugees to other businesses, industries and opportunities.
In 2014 Green Connect also incorporated Urban Grown, a farm that was about to close as its funding came to an end.
It now boasts one of the largest urban permaculture farms in the world on 4.5 ha at Warrawong.
The money made from the op shops goes back into supporting the farm and aligns with the organisation’s goals of providing employment for people with barriers, reducing waste and growing fair food.
With time running out to find a new home, the not-for-profit has accepted it will have to shut the shops, at least for the time being.
Robert said the team still hoped to find a new, suitable building, but as a charity they had some constraints.
“The location would need to be big enough to sort goods and sell them, and the rent has to be reasonable,” he said.
“We’re a charity, and the op shop does well but it doesn’t make a huge profit, so we can’t afford much.”
The closure won’t affect the organisation’s other operations, although staff at the Unanderra office will shift to their old office space in Port Kembla for a time.
Robert said it wasn’t just a sad day for patrons of the store, but the volunteers too.
For many of them, volunteering is an important weekly social ritual.
There is one silver lining though.
If you love a good bargain, clear some time in your schedule.
“Whether we close or we move we still have to reduce our inventory, so we’re having a huge sale,” Robert said.
“From Tuesday 8 October it’s 50 per cent off everything, and if we still have stock we need to get rid of we’ll do a fill a bag sale Sat 26 Oct.
“It depends how much we have left though; we’re already getting quite a bit of traffic.”
Robert thanked the community for their support of the op shop – both shoppers and donators.
He asked anyone with ideas for a new space to get in touch via email at [email protected].
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