By Tanya Steele
A fresh layout and fresh owners have kept an iconic thrifting haven open in the hills of outer east Melbourne.
The Foothills Community Opportunity Shop has taken over the previous PwP op shop in Tecoma and has been ‘softly’ opened since 6 May.
“We will formally open in the next few weeks,” said Manager Sandy Kemp – who also manages the Foothill’s sister op shop in Mountain Gate.
The op shop has been reorganised and Ms Kemp said locals have been enjoying popping in for a look.
“It took us about five weeks to put the place together – we have reworked everything in here,” she said.
“They are very, very happy to see it open again and love the fresh layout”.
Tecoma PWP (Parents without Partners) shut its doors on Monday 18 March and the manager at the time Ms Hazelman has been trying to salvage the op shop since late September 2023.
The store had been opening part-time after Ms Hazelman took over management from Norma Boyse, who stepped down from the store after 20 years of service.
Foothills also acquired the long-running Mountain Gate Community OpShop in Ferntree Gully in September 2022.
With a fresh lease on life some of the volunteers previously involved with PwP have remained on staff but Ms Kemp they are always looking for more people.
“At the moment we are not open on Thursdays because we don’t have enough staff,” she said.
Anyone can volunteer by going online to the Foothills Community Care website.
“There is one requirement everybody needs to have a working with children clearance,” said Ms Kemp.
