By: Claire Corrigan
You could be forgiven for thinking you had walked into a swanky new boutique on Oliver Plunkett street last Friday morning, 25 August when Oxfam opened its doors for the first time in a year.
On hand to talk to Topic about the new store was Mark Sweeney, District retail manager for Oxfam.
“We’re reopening the store and trying to go for a different look. Oxfam is one of the better recognised charity retailers in the world and we bring something different to the table in terms of how we merchandise and display our stock. We are trying a few new things in Mullingar in terms of our accessories range. We have a lot of brand new accessories that have never been used. They are not second-hand or donated and handbags and hats too. It is all brand new stuff.”
The new store will even have its own designer clothes section where customers can browse top names for extremely low prices.
“We are trying to provide designer clothes so any designer items that are donated to us will be put into a section and we are also creating a book section at the back for the readers so they will have their own area to go to.”
Mark said that much effort goes into ensuring that the stock is of the highest quality possible.
“The bread and butter of what Oxfam does is ladies’ clothing so that will make up the majority of our items. What you can expect from any Oxfam store is a higher quality of donations because we spend a lot of time sorting through the clothes and recognising what is good quality and looking at good brands and also what is in season.”
Mark said that store manager Anita Whelan and Deputy Manager Nicola Tynan both hail from Mullingar.
“We wanted to create that friendly inviting atmosphere for customers when they come in and we have a lot of volunteers on board- 15 in total but we are always looking for volunteers whatever their interests are be it fashion, accessories music or books.”
He said he had seen a big resurgence in vinyl and that shoppers could also pick up CDs. “It’s a one stop shop we have men’s clothing and kids’ clothing as well.”
Customer Samantha Whaley said she was delighted to see the shop back in business.
“It’s very nice to have one of these shops in the town and it did great business when it was open. I used to love coming in to get bits and pieces especially with the cost of living at the moment,” she concluded.