Our Charity Shop Manager, Linda, has been working with us for over three years. Her strong retail background has enabled our shop to grow and profits to rise, not just from sales, but various other avenues, most notably our Gift Aid. Linda coordinates anything and everything shop related, and here’s how she does it!
9.30. I enter the shop, switch on the till and the card machine. I open the windows in both rooms (weather dependent!) and go through to the stock room, which is also our back office. I switch on the laptop, tablet and the label printer ready for pricing. The tablet is used to sign up new Gift Aid donors.
9.40. I hoover and mop whilst making sure we are health and safety compliant.
9.45. I put the cash drawer in the till making sure we have enough change for the day.
9.50. I go through what needs doing for the day, check our window displays and move a few items around to refresh the display.
10.00 I open the door and put our swing sign outside. Inside I switch the lights on in both rooms ready for our customers. I have a quick check in with the volunteer helping out today, making sure everything is ok. Volunteer’s mainly man the till, but I like to get their input and opinion on how they see the shop. I will discuss what needs doing and ask for any ideas how to improve displays. Today, I get ready to steam the clothes, as the volunteer who usually steams is on holiday. Whilst I’m steaming, the volunteer takes in a few bags of donations, we receive donations every day.
11.00 I take a break from steaming and transfer to the shop rails. I start sorting the bags of donations that came in late Saturday afternoon. After sorting, I price what we are able to sell, ready to hang when I’ve finished the steaming.
11.45 I check in with the volunteer on the till again to make sure they are ok, then back to the steaming for me! After another hour, I take all the freshly steamed clothes and put them out on the shop floor, where I see another few bags of donations have been handed in.
12.45 I start sorting the donations. The first one is some china. It’s in good condition, but a bit dusty, so I’m going to wash it, then price it, and out on the shop floor it goes!
13.15 A large donation of men’s clothes has come in. I sort through and rag what
we can’t sell (dirty, damaged or stained items usually). The rest is priced and I hang half of them. The other half, after pricing them, I put into a storage bag, ready for the lock up, where we keep surplus and seasonal stock. This is so we don’t fill a rail of the same size clothes.
14.15 I check in again with the volunteer ask how they are getting on today. We usually discuss what items have sold and how much money we have taken. The volunteer suggests a new idea to display scarfs. We try it and see how it goes!
14.25 I’m aware I have 30 minutes before the volunteer finishes so I go back and carry on sorting donations. I find some jewellery which I check to see is it’s got a name or a hallmark, we can use google lens to identify it and its value. Today it’s a few silver items which I price, and put in our cabinet next to the till.
15.00 The volunteer finishes and I move to the till. I stay there for a few minutes while there are customers in the shop. When they leave, I move back to the stock room and start putting everything away so it’s nice and tidy for tomorrow morning. The door goes so I move back to the till and a lady drops off a donation. I ask her if she has signed up to Gift Aid. She is already signed up with us, so I take her surname and look her up on the system, confirming her initial and address. After she leaves, I take the donation to the stock room and put her Gift Aid number on it, ready for sorting tomorrow. While on the till I check our sales for the day.
15.30 A few ladies come in to the shop and after 10 minutes of browsing, come to the till with a few items of clothing and some ornaments. Having put it through the till and had a chat, off they go with a cheery bye on both sides.
15.40 I tidy up the rails, whilst making a note of what stock we need to fill them up. I also look at the shelves and books for any gaps.
15.55 I bring in the swing sign.
16.00 I put the closed sign on the door and close the shop. I cash up, fill in our weekly recording sheet, take the cash sales for the day and put them into the safe. I count the money in the till to make sure the float is correct and note if change is needed.
16.10 I close all windows and fire doors, and ensure everything is tidy.
16.15 I lock the doors and walk home listening to a podcast. A perfect end to the day.
