Ten years and thousands of second-hand sales later, the Victoria Hospice Thrift Boutique will shut its doors permanently when its lease expires March 31.
“It took a lot of our efforts for a really small amount of revenue,” said Dave Traynor, Victoria Hospice communications manager, adding there are no plans to begin another thrift operation. “We know it’s going to be hard.”
The Cook Street store recently rebranded itself for higher-end goods, attracted a loyal clientele, hired a part-time paid manager and counted on hundreds of unpaid volunteers, including 40 still working their shifts.
Traynor cited many factors in the shutdown, from the competitive nature of second-hand shopping in Victoria — where other thrift shops are run by experienced retailers — to the expectation that rent would increase.
Current rent is $7,060 per month for 2,164 square feet in a small plaza at 1315 Cook St. between Yates and Johnson.
“That’s an awful lot of $18 jackets,” Traynor said, referring to the cost of a garment at the shop.
Customers heading into the shop were disappointed by the news and spoke of its attractive ambiance, convenient location and dedication to a good cause.
“It’s a very good shop,” said Frances Young of Saanich, who is “very sorry to see it go.” She patronized it twice a month for its good quality, low-cost offerings and “lovely” staff. “It’s very well run and very clean.”
Signs on the windows indicate an ongoing issue with the large amount of donated goods unsuitable for a boutique thrift shop, leading to a lot of volunteer time spent sorting and re-bagging goods for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Victoria. “Last week, we had 35 bags of clothing that we could not sell,” said one notice.
The store is accepting donations until mid-February.
The property is currently owned by Capital Finance. But for the store’s first eight years, the previous landlord donated the equivalent of half the rent back to Hospice, an important offset, Traynor said.
Hospice had to ask itself if the modest profit of the thrift operation was the best use of community support. Hospice needs to raise about $3.2 million a year — more than $8,700 a day — to assist about 400 people every day, most of them in their own homes.
Revenues for the shop were $216,677 in 2013-14 but profit after rent, part-time management and utilities totalled barely $30,000.
“That means that last year, Hospice received about 14 cents for every dollar spent at the boutique,” Traynor noted.
