Vinnies opens its doors in Belmont

VINNIES has opened the doors to its newest second-hand store in Belmont.

Officially opening on September 1, the High Street store has received a warm welcome from the community as shoppers flooded through the doors.

Vinnies operations manager for the west, Graham Staniforth, said the reception from the community had been “tremendous” from the start.

“The community was involved before we actually opened the door, it was great to see and they were just pleased to see us there,” he said.

After taking over from the builders, the team spent just over two weeks getting the shop ready for the opening and in that time attracted interest from the public.

“They were knocking on the door and we spoke to them, they were really keen; we had a sign up telling them when we were opening but they were really looking forward to it,” Mr Staniforth said.

Opening day saw people head down to the store as it welcomed customers for the first time.

“I stood on the door and opened it and I had to actually move out of the way to let people in, and it was quite incredible, and it just kept coming,” Mr Staniforth said.

“It was really great to see the local community down there in the Belmont area, welcoming Vinnies to their shopping strip and it’s a really great thing to see.”

The Belmont store marks the 120th Vinnies shop and the fifth to open in the last three months.

Mr Staniforth said they’re always on the lookout for great locations and found one in the Belmont store with the right shop size, street traffic and a good spot for deliveries.

Funds raised through the shop help to provide assistance and support to adults and children within the local community.

Vinnies Belmont is open Monday to Sunday from 9.30am until 5pm.

For more information or to volunteer, heads to vinnies.org.au