By Dongyun Kwon
After about one and a half months of waiting, Coldstream Op Shop has reopened with new owners.
Angela Jones and Rebecca Carter, who were regular customers of the previous Coldstream Op Shop, took over the shop and reopened the business on Monday 4 March.
Ms Jones said she walked into the shop one day and asked John and Rae (previous owners) why they were closing the op shop.
“I mentioned to Rae and John that Rebecca and I had talked about opening up an op shop one day,” she said
“But it was like a hypothetical one day long in the future.
“Because Rae and John knew me and what we’re about, they said ‘Well, if you take over the business, then you could have all the stock and fittings’.”
Ms Carter said the first week went well.
“We’re really welcomed by the community,” she said.
“The customers were very grateful that it didn’t close down and disappeared completely.
“They’ve really welcomed the changes because we’ve done a lot of cleaning and made it a little bit more spacious but they also loved that it hasn’t changed too much.”
The profits will go towards supporting Yarra Ranges Women’s Network which is a support group for local women that has been run by Ms Carter for a couple of years.
“We were struggling with funding and having to go through the grant process which is complex, stressful and has to be done every year,” Ms Jones said.
“So we talked about opening an op shop one day that would fund the service that Rebecca has started, but we just didn’t expect it to be this soon.”
Ms Carter has a social work background and Ms Jones has a counseling background.
They want to reintegrate women back into the community through volunteering or being part of workshops at the op shop.
“After Covid, women have become very isolated and we’re trying to be the change that we hope to see in the Valley and create a place where women can find themselves again, particularly after traumatic experiences,” Ms Jones said.
The current owners want the shop to be the same as the previous one.
“We want it to be cheap, friendly and a community hub which is what Rae and John created,” Ms Jones said.
“We want to carry their legacy.”
Coldstream Op Shop is now calling for volunteers.
“They could do anything they want from an hour to five hours shifts. They don’t have to do customer service, they can be at the back if they want,” Ms Jones said.
The op shop is now operated between 10am and 3pm from Monday to Friday, but the owners are planning to open on Saturday with shorter hours.
“We’re hoping to do it from 10am to 1pm on Saturday as well,” Ms Carter said.
