HOSPICE workers were flushed with pride after converting a former bathroom store into a successful charity shop.
The brand new St T’s Interiors opened its doors in Cockerton, Darlington, to a queue of eager shoppers.
In the first hour the store hit its weekly fundraising target and St Teresa’s Hospice staff twice had to call in extra vans to restock the showroom floor.
One customer alone spent more than £500 on large items of furniture as the former kitchen and bathroom store in Woodland Road reopened after a month-long refurbishment.
St Teresa’s Hospice has run a furniture, clothes and bric-a-brac store in Cockerton for the past seven years and moved to the new premises across the road, which have more display and storage space.
Trainee manager Amy Glancey said: “We had more than ten staff and volunteers and had simply outgrown the old shop. When we went to open the new one there was a massive queue waiting at the door of people who seemed to know exactly what they were looking for.”
Hospice retail manager Marjorie McIntyre led the renovation and was responsible for the decoration of the shop and, with the help of the furniture restoration team, the custom-designed sales counter.
She involved Frank’s the Flooring Store, who gave a discount to the hospice and whose fitters donated their fee back to St Teresa’s.
The renovation was also aided by AS Crocker, who completed all the plasterwork for free, MKM Building Supplies, who donated materials, and Walter Thompson, who organised repairs to the floor with their partners SPL Flooring.
St Teresa’s Hospice chief executive Jane Bradshaw added: “We have been in Cockerton for years and are absolutely thrilled with our new premises. The opening day was phenomenal showing that the public loves the new store just as much as we do.”
