By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IN SIX years the Cranbourne Salvos Store has doubled in size and more than tripled in sales figures – and one volunteer has been there for it all.
Former secondary school teacher Roy Fernandez from Cranbourne said when he first started selling secondhand books at the Cranbourne Homemaker Salvos Store six years ago, sales hit around $400 a month.
Now the opportunity shop is selling more than $5000 in secondhand book sales alone each month.
Mr Fernandez, who used to man the book corner, puts the huge rise in sales down to the population growth of Cranbourne.
“More people have become aware that we sell secondhand books and maybe more people are reading,” he told Star News.
The spacious store sells absolutely everything from furniture to electrical goods and Mr Fernandez said he served a lot of migrants who were looking to furnish their new home or rental property.
“I enjoy selling and it’s not only the selling aspect – you are helping someone.
“And you meet people and talk to them and get to know their lives – we get people from everywhere – Uganda, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and they keep coming back after they have bought the necessities like a bed and a fridge,” Mr Fernandez explained.
A week after the store was opened Mr Fernandez decided to offer his services as a volunteer and has been unpacking and selling the donated goods ever since – celebrating his six-year anniversary with colleague Marilyn Ryan.
Ms Ryan from Cranbourne has notched up just over five years volunteering at the Cranbourne store, and said she loved her job.
“I’ve always been on register – I sell it, I don’t unpack it,” she laughed.
With regular customers and lifelong work friends Ms Ryan, 66, said she could always rely on the younger staff members to help her with the computer.
“I can’t use a computer but here at the Salvos I don’t need to – it’s been great, volunteering gets me out of the house and stops me from getting bored.
“Plus I get to see customers leave with a big smile on their face,” she said.
But among all the goodwill and helping hands, Ms Ryan said often customers didn’t realise what the Salvos actually did.
“Some people come in and seem to think that because we got the things for free, that they too should get the things for free.
“And they ask why some items are priced so high and I explain that that’s not how it works and that they aren’t expensive at all,” she said.
Celebrating National Op Shop Week along with the good work their volunteers do, the Cranbourne Salvos Store held a morning tea to congratulate their staff on more than five years volunteering.
Mr Fernandez said volunteering two days a week gave him a sense of satisfaction in his life. He said the organisation couldn’t operate without its thousands of hard-working volunteers.
To find out more about National Op Shop Week with the Salvation Army, visit www.salvosstores.com.au
