SIRCH Thrift Warehouse draws huge crowd at grand opening

April 7, 2015

By Nate Smelle

People were lined up early on the morning of Saturday, April 4 for the grand opening of SIRCH’s new Thrift Warehouse in Bancroft. Eager to get their hands on some of the first merchandise to fill the space the crowd quickly once the doors opened. Taking part in the celebration were local dignitaries Todd Smith MPP, Faraday Township’s Deputy Reeve Marg Nicholson and Reeve Carl Tinney. Helping to establish a celebratory atmosphere was a beautiful flower arrangement donated by Community Care North Hastings, and a giant chocolate cake.

“The principles of this initiative are a great fit for our region,” said Township of Faraday’s Deputy Reeve Nicholson.

“This is a win for waste diversion, job creation and the community. It is also wonderful to know that all of the profits generated will go back into North Hastings to support programs and other initiatives in our region.”

Although the mandate of Thrift Warehouse is primarily job creation and landfill diversion, SIRCH’s executive director Gena Robertson said they plan to be flexible in their interaction with the community in order to serve its specific needs better.

“At the end of our fiscal year—which is March 31—we will determine if there is a profit, and then at that point we will decide how to invest that profit in North Hastings,” she said.

Robertson stated that any net profits generated by the Thrift Warehouse after the initial investment is paid off will be re-invested in North Hastings. Where this money will be invested will depend upon what initiatives in the community people would like us to support, she explained.

“Certainly if people have suggestions as we go through the year we would love to have that input,” said Robertson.

“It’s going to be a process of people here identifying what’s most important, and we don’t know what that process will be yet. We need to get a flavour of what’s happening and where people would like to see money invested.”

Open less than a week, SIRCH’s new Thrift Warehouse in Bancroft has already created six jobs and hopes of to help create even more. MPP Smith is also hopeful that this success will continue to grow.

“I hope it’s a big success, but it’s an interesting business model as a not-for-profit business,” said Smith.

“What it does is it’s going to divert a lot of things that would have normally ended up in the landfill to on the shelves here. It’s going to create a place where people can buy things for their homes that are affordable to them. I think the other thing is that any time you can bring jobs to northern Ontario it’s just great.”

The Thrift Warehouse is located at 29556 Hwy. 28 South of Bancroft and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are currently seeking gently used furniture, housewares, clothing, appliances and electronics (in good working order), building supplies, children’s items and pretty much anything else that someone might enjoy using. For more information on SIRCH and its new Thrift Warehouse in Bancroft contact 1-844-THRIFT2, or visit their facebook page at www.facebook.com/bancroftthriftwarehouse.