14 Mar The cash registers have been ringing during a busy few days for EACH’s new-look shop in Halstead
Staff and volunteers at a new-look charity shop have enjoyed an “exceptionally busy” few days since reopening for business.
The East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) store in Halstead’s High Street closed for a major refurbishment on 21st February.
However, its doors reopened last week and the changes, which include environmental improvements, are proving a hit with customers.
Shop manager Chris Davies said: “We couldn’t be prouder of our stunning new-look shop. It’s beautiful and quite a transformation.
“It was one of the older stores in EACH’s portfolio. It needed modernising and freshening up and we had to close for more than a fortnight, before reopening on Wednesday.
“Thankfully the tills have been ringing ever since. We’ve been exceptionally busy and people have been happy to spend money.
“In fact, we recorded a week’s worth of takings in the first two days.
“There’s been lots of interest and hopefully first-time customers will be keen to return. We want to build on this momentum.”
The refurbishment included removing the shop’s old carpet and laying a contemporary-looking laminate wooden floor.
The 1970s-style slatted wall panels have also been replaced with a slick white finish.
EACH’s facilities team always upgrades sites with environmental improvements, too.
The Halstead refit included removing the shop’s old gas-guzzling boiler and introducing sustainable infrared heating panels.
In addition, all the lighting has been replaced with new energy-efficient LEDs.
“We’ve had lots of positive feedback,” added Chris.
“We have a comments book on the counter and several pages have been filled already. Everyone is very impressed.”
Chris is keen to hear from anyone interested in volunteering in the Halstead shop, particularly on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“We can never have too many pairs of hands, even if people can only spare a couple of hours a week,” he said.
“We’re ideally looking for someone to work on the till and sort through donations, but would love to hear from anyone interested in joining our friendly team.”
Chris can be contacted via [email protected] or by calling the shop on 01787 476753.
EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across North and West Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.
It has 44 shops across East Anglia and the Halstead store is one of five in Essex, with two in Colchester, one in Clacton and one in Dovercourt.
